7 Apr 2009

Asia-Pacific markets down

10:45 pm on 7 April 2009

Markets in Asia and the Pacific were down by the close of trade on Tuesday.

In New Zealand, the benchmark index was down 21 points to close at 2612 on turnover of $95 million.

Telecom was up 4 cents at $2.49, Fletcher Building slid 5c at $6.15, and Contact Energy was down 1c at $5.95.

Freightways has been placed on a trading halt while it undertakes a $45 million institutional share placement. Mainfrieght was down 8c to $4.04.

The Australian share market closed lower on Tuesday as the central bank cut interest rates to their lowest level in 49 years.

At the 1615 AEST close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 50.3 points, 1.34%, at 3706.3, and the broader All Ordinaries index shed 47.9 points, or 1.3%, to 3648.5.

The Reserve Bank of Australia cut the cash interest rate on Tuesday by 25 basis points to 3%, from 3.25%. The market was split between those expecting no cut and those anticipating a cut of half a percentage point.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan fell 1.25%, after briefly touching a six-month high on Monday. The index, now at 264.20, has not been able to clear 270 since October 2008.

The Nikkei share average slipped 0.3%, with weakness in bank stocks winning out over strength in automaker shares, which have continued to gain on hopes General Motors will be able to avoid an industry collapse.