NZ shares dip as investors eye Fletcher update

The S&P/NZX 50 Index decreased 10.24 points, or 0.1 percent, to 10,408.05. Within the index 21 stocks fell, 22 rose, and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $121 million.

Fletcher slipped 0.8 percent to $5.29 on a volume of 1.5 million shares, more than its 90-day average of 1.2 million. The company today unveiled plans to buy back as much as $300 million of stock, affirmed its annual earnings and dividend, and said it doesn't expect to lift its provisioning for the troubled Building + Interiors division that experienced a cost blow-out in recent years.

Rickey Ward, New Zealand equity manager at JBWere, said the B+I news should have supported the stock, given there were concerns that the cost of its projects may rise further. However, investors latched on to the composition of earnings, with weak Australian trading conditions and the local residential unit benefitting from land sales, which Ward said was a regular part of its business.

"I don't know what is negative about that when it comes to messaging - it's only when you delve down that you can find something and everyone's homed in on its property sales," he said.