NZ stocks fall 1.3 pct after Wall Street tumbles
(Updates prices, adds comments)
WELLINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - New Zealand's benchmark stock index declined on Monday as Asian stocks tracked a broad sell-off on Wall Street.
The benchmark NZX-50 index .NZ50 extended its opening fall and traded down 46.5 points, or 1.3 percent at 3,501.81 by 0030 GMT. The market traded as low as 3,495.77, its weakest since mid-April.
Barry Lindsay, research manager at First NZ Capital, said the drop in the market was cushioned to some degree by a national holiday in Australia.
"The decline that we've seen, at 1.2 percent, is probably less than people had expected," Lindsay said.
Top stock Telecom Corp (TEL.NZ) pared early losses to last trade three cents lower or 0.8 percent at NZ$3.83, while the number two stock Contact Energy Ltd (CEN.NZ) fell 10 cents or 1.13 percent to NZ$8.75.
Turnover of NZ$41 million ($31.5 million) on the New Zealand market was lower than normal, with less overseas orders due to the Australian holiday, Lindsay said.
Retailer Postie Plus Group (PPG.NZ) lost 2.3 percent as it said sales were continuing to decline, and it saw little chance or reversing its first half loss in the remainder of the year to July. [nWLF000909]
The jump in oil prices however saw New Zealand Oil and Gas Ltd (NZO.NZ) buck the trend and rise almost 4 percent on expectations of greater income from its Tui oil field.
U.S. stocks plunged on Friday, posting their biggest fall in 15 months, after data showed unemployment jumping the highest in 22 years and oil prices surged to record highs. [.N]
The double blow, which raised the spectre that the U.S. economy may face 1970's style stagflation, sent investors rushing out of stocks to safe haven bonds.
The benchmark Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 3.1 percent to close at 12,209.8, its biggest drop since February 2007. (NZ$1=$1.30) (Reporting by Adrian Bathgate; Editing by Anshuman Daga)
