The New Zealand sharemarket eased slightly today on the back of hefty losses for several stocks and broader concerns about the upgraded disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant.
The NZX-50 index closed down 9.98 points, 0.3 per cent, at 3451.34, having gained 16 points yesterday on the back of a strong rise in the price of Fletcher Building shares.
Today, Fletcher Building hit a three-year high of 953 before plunging during the session to close down 14c at 938.
Electricity and gas distributor Vector also slid, after the company expressed dissatisfaction with a Commerce Commission proposal related to regulated pricing for monopoly network owners.
Vector closed down 7c, or 2.9 per cent, at 239, adding to yesterday's 11c loss.
The commission's proposal overturned the basis which most lines companies and market participants had been using to estimate the impact of the new regulatory regime for a considerable period of time, Vector said.
Other blue chips were mixed. Contact Energy rose 3c to 576, Telecom lost 1.5c to 198, casino company Sky City rose 3c to 347 and Sky TV was down 4c at 570.
