NZ sharemarket dips in wake of govt announcements

The S&P/NZX 50 Index seemed to be heading towards its third flat day in four till the matching session and closed at 11,579.8, down 37.57 points or 0.32%.  

There were 80 gainers and 45 decliners over the whole market on volumes of 326.34 million share transactions worth $95.09m.

Greg Smith, head of retail at Devon Funds Management, said there weren't a lot of surprises in the mini-budget. “Austerity is back in fashion as the new government looks to trim the fat.”

The coalition government outlined $7.5 billion in cuts and savings over the next four years, as well as committing to annual public service cuts of $1.5b, amounting to $6b in the four-year period.