The New Zealand sharemarket drifted lower in quiet trading today as investors adopted a wait and see attitude to next week's government budget.
The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 10.946 points, or 0.346 percent, at 3156.078. Turnover was worth $109.2 million. There were 32 rises and 53 falls among the 114 stocks traded.
"Our market has drifted all day," said Stephen Wright at ASB Securities.
Yesterday's Australian federal budget, which included forecasts of strong economic growth, helped lift the Australian sharemarket and left investors wondering which way next week's New Zealand government budget will drive this market.
Tax policy for the property sector is expected to be clarified in the budget.
Telecom closed unchanged at $2.10 but traded as low as $2.08 after the Commerce Commission recommended regulation of mobile termination rates. Mr Wright said it was one of a raft of issues affecting sentiment for Telecom.
Fletcher Building eased 7c to $7.84, while Contact Energy rose 2c to $6.14.
PGG Wrightson rose 1c to 56c and NZ Farming Systems Uruguay fell 2c to 38c.
Guinness Peat Group fell 3c to 82c in an ongoing negative reaction to statements at its annual meeting last week.
Westpac fell 64c to $30.67 and AMP fell 5c to $7.35.
TrustPower eased 4c to $7.26, Hallenstein Glasson eased 3c to $3.40 and The Warehouse fell 4c to $3.65.
Hellaby fell 4c to $1.65 and Tourism Holdings fell 2c to 90c. Fisher & Paykel Appliances fell 1c to 63c.
Goodman Property, which reported yesterday, was unchanged at 98c.
Cavalier Carpets rose 10c to $2.65, while other gainers were Michael Hill, which was up 1c to 73c; NZOG, which rose 1c to $1.50; Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which rose 2c to $3.42; Auckland Airport, which rose 1c to $1.96; and Nuplex, which was up 1c to $3.31.
At a time of record gold prices, OceanaGold rose 28c to $3.48 and Heritage Gold rose 0.2c to 2.9c.
In the United States, investors dumped stocks in afternoon trading as worries about Europe's ability to contain Greece's fiscal problems crept back into the market.
Gold hit a new high above $US1230 an ounce as investors sought the perceived safety of the precious metal, while falling crude oil prices hit shares of energy companies.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.3 percent to end at 10,748.26, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell or 0.3 percent to 1155.79, but the Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.03 percent to close at 2375.31.
