NZ market down almost 5 pc

By AARON LIM - BusinessDay.co.nz | Friday, 10 October 2008

The New Zealand stock market fell by almost 5 per cent today, as markets in Australia and Asia plummeted.

The benchmark NZX 50 index finished the day 139.08 points down, or 4.96 per cent at 2805.314.

Top stock Telecom finished the week down 9c down at $2.56, with Fletcher building plunging 53c to $5.86.

Fletcher has hit lowest level today since May 2005. It briefly dipped below $6 to $5.98 on July 16 this year but recovered on that day to close at $6.04.

Contact Energy was down 10c to $7.20, Rakon fell 13c to $2.05.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare ended the day down 4c to $2.96, and F&P Appliances 14c lower at $1.35.

Energy stocks fell as international oil prices dropped to 12 month lows.

NZ Oil & Gas was down 4c to $1.16, with Austral Pacific down 36 percent to 16c.

Pike River Coal fell 15c to $1.26.

US crude oil futures fell more than US$3 to a fresh 12-month low on Friday, extending early losses on fears that fuel demand will drop as a spreading credit crisis sends the global economy into a downturn. US crude for November delivery was at US$83.90 a barrel in Friday trading.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell over 7.56 percent, down 326 points to 3994 in the afternoon trading.

Shares in Japan, the benchmark Nikkei plunged 11 percent to 8.183.37 in morning trading, close to its biggest one day fall since 1987.

Singapore's Straits Times index fell more than 7 percent today, its seventh consecutive day of falls, after data confirmed one of Asia's richest economies was in a recession.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng opened 7.8 percent down.

The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks excluding Japan was down 5.7 percent to the lowest since June 2005, and has fallen 19 percent this week alone.

Overnight, the Dow dropped 678.91 points, or 7.33 percent, to 8579.19, while the S & P 500 plummeted 75.02 points, or 7.62 percent, to 909.92. The Nasdaq sank 95.21 points, or 5.47 percent, to 1645.12.

-with Reuters