Shares fall as yield plays ease from records

The S&P/NZX 50 Index decreased 36.57 points, or 0.3 percent, to 10,464.53. Within the index, 32 stocks fell, 10 gained, and eight were unchanged. Turnover was $73.2 million, with just four companies trading on volumes of more than a million shares.

The benchmark index is still up about 19 percent so far this year, outperforming most stock markets across Asia, as investors take on some equity risk to secure cash flows from companies that pay reliable dividends, such as utilities, property firms and infrastructure stocks.

Meridian Energy, New Zealand's biggest listed company, is up 39 percent so far this year, and was among those giving up some of their recent gains. It fell 1.5 percent to $4.68 on a smaller volume than usual of 661,000 shares. Auckland International Airport, the second biggest company on the NZX, is up 35 percent year-to-date and was down 1.4 percent at $9.71 today.

Contact Energy and Genesis Energy have also clocked in year-to-date gains of more than 30 percent. They fell 2.5 percent to $7.80 and $2.6 percent to $3.38 respectively.