(RTTNews) - The New Zealand stock market closed sharply lower on Monday, extending Friday’s steep losses, as investor sentiment was dented by Wall Street’s fall on Friday amid concerns that the bailout plan approved by the House of Representatives might not avert a recession in the U.S. and after the U.S. Labor Department reported weaker-than-expected jobs data for September. The New Zealand Treasury’s report Monday on the state of the economy, ahead of the election, also added to the gloom.

The benchmark NZX 50 index finished the day down 103.16 points or 3.38% at 3,048.38 and the broader NZX All Capital index fell 92.09 points or 2.97% to finish at 3,098.08.

In the currency market, the New Zealand dollar finished lower against the U.S. dollar on the back of worse-than-expected forecasts reported by New Zealand’s Treasury. The kiwi closed Monday’s session at US$0.6515, down from US$6595 in early trade and US$0.6622 late Friday.

Treasury said that the economic outlook had deteriorated badly since the May budget and this meant reducing its revenue forecasts and increasing its predictions of costs. Speaking at the release of the Treasury update, Finance Minister Michael Cullen said that the scale of international turmoil was unprecedented.

On Friday, the Dow closed down 157 points or 1.5% at 10,325, the Nasdaq dropped 29 points or 1.5% to 1,947.39, and the S&P 500 gave away 15 points or 1.4% to 1,099.

Crude oil prices continued to fall in Asian trade Monday on fears that slowing economic growth will reduce demand for oil. At 2:08 a.m. ET, oil was down $2.51 at $91.37 a barrel.

Top stock Telecom fell 3.5%, Fletcher Building shed 4.8%, and Contact Energy dropped 2.8%. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare lost 2.3%.

Banking and finance stocks continued to be hit hard, with ANZ plunging 3.9%, Westpac plummeting 4.9%, and AMP slumping 8.8%.

In the retail sector, jeweler Michael Hill tumbled 6.5%, Pumpkin Patch shed 1.5%, The Warehouse Group gave away 3.2%, and Hallenstein Glasson declined 0.8%.

Bucking the overall market trend, Property for Industry gained 1.8%, PGG Wrightson jumped 2.9%, Pike River Coal advanced 1.3%, Rakon rose 0.9%, and Vector added 0.5%.

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Posted in Categories: Economy, New Zealand, Releases, USA.

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