(RTTNews) - New Zealand’s share market opened lower on Wednesday, following losses on Wall Street, where U.S. stocks closed lower overnight in reaction to some mixed economic data and earnings reports.

The benchmark NZX 50 index fell 20.50 points or 0.63% to 3,232.05 shortly after the market opened for the day. Meanwhile, the broader NZX All Capital index declined 20.00 points or 0.61% to be at 3,247.07.

A strong lead from Wall Street helped boost the New Zealand share market on Tuesday. The benchmark NZX-50 index closed with a gain of 31.6 points or 0.9 percent at 3,252.6. Trading volume was reported by the NZ Stock Exchange at 40.7 million shares valued at NZ$87.3 million. Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners 54 to 20 with 38 unchanged.

Overseas, U.S. stocks saw notable weakness during trading on Tuesday after traders reacted negatively to some disappointing housing data. The major averages all closed firmly in negative territory after ending the previous session at one-year closing highs.

The day’s losses came after the Commerce Department reported that housing starts rose by much less than economists had expected in the month of September. Housing starts rose by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 590,000 in September from the revised August estimate of 587,000. Economists had expected starts to rise to 610,000 from the 598,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Additionally, the report showed that building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, fell 1.2 percent to an annual rate of 573,000 in September from the revised August rate of 580,000. The drop in building permits came as a surprise to economists.

Also on the economic front today, the Labor Department revealed that producer prices fell 0.6 percent in September, while economists were looking for producer prices to slip by 0.3 percent. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy sectors, edged down by 0.1 percent for September, while economists had anticipated an increase of 0.1 percent.

The day’s economic news largely extinguished optimism that came following a string of positive earnings reports from corporate stalwarts Apple (AAPL), Caterpillar (CAT) and Texas Instruments (TXN), among others.

While the major U.S. averages managed to climb off their lows over the course of the afternoon, they remained stuck in the red. The Dow closed down by 50.71 points or 0.5 percent at 10,041.48, the Nasdaq fell by 12.85 points or 0.6 percent to 2,163.47 and the S&P 500 lost 6.85 points or 0.6 percent to close at 1,091.06.

Crude oil finished lower after failing to hold above the $80 per barrel mark on Tuesday. Disappointing economic reports led to energy demand worries ahead of Wednesday’s Energy Information Administration’s inventory report.

Light sweet crude for November fell to $79.08, down 52 cents on the session. Earlier, oil hit as high as $80.05. The November contract expired at the end of Tuesday’s session. December oil fell 84 cents to finish at $79.12 per barrel.

On the currency front, the New Zealand dollar was buying US74.76c by 8am on Wednesday, sharply lower that the US75.50c level touched around midnight. In comparison, the kiwi was buying US75.33c at 5pm on Tuesday.

In the economic news for Wednesday, Statistics NZ releases its data on visitor arrivals in New Zealand for the month of September at 21:45 PM GMT.

In the early trading on the New Zealand stock market on Wednesday, market leader Telecom lost 0.78%, while second ranked Contact Energy fell 1.42% and Fletcher Building, the third best stock, declined 1.18%.

In the retail sector, Pumpkin Patch and Warehouse remained unchanged, as Hallenstein Glasson gave up 1.61% and jewelry retailer Michael Hill International surged 4.48%. Among energy stocks, TrustPower and Vector remained unchanged in the early trading.

Among the dual listed issues, Australia and NZ Banking Corp dropped 0.71% and Telstra lost 0.78%, as AMP, APN News & Media, Lion Nathan and Westpac Bank remained unchanged in the early trading on Wednesday morning.

Among other notable stocks, Infratil fell 0.60%, Mainfreight lost 0.88%, Methven declined 1.11%, Nuplex gave up 0.82%, Sky City eased 0.56% and Sky Network Television dropped 0.61%, as Steel & Tube Holdings remained unchanged. Meanwhile, Fisher & Paykel Appliances jumped 1.56% and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare added 0.33%.

The major losers on Wednesday morning included - Air New Zealand by 0.76%, Cavalier by 0.40%, Freightways by 0.31%, Kiwi Income Property Trust by 0.89%, New Zealand Oil & Gas by 0.57%, NZX Limited by 0.62%, PGG Wrightson by 2.60%, Port of Tauranga by 0.41%, Pike River Coal by 1.77%, Rakon by 0.80% and Ryman Healthcare by 0.53%.

The gainers included– Auckland International Airport by 0.50%, Air New Zealand by 0.77%, Cavalier by 0.81%, New Zealand Refining Company by 0.39%, Port of Tauranga by 0.69%, Rakon by 2.50% and Ryman Healthcare by 1.07%.

Apart from Fisher & Paykel Appliances, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Michael Hill International, the gainers among stocks listed under the benchmark NZX 50 index in the early trading on Tuesday were Goodman Property Trust and Sanford. While the former added 0.95%, Sanford collected 1.04%.

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Posted in Categories: Australia, New Zealand, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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