Rudderless NZ sharemarket drifts lower

New Zealand shares drifted lower as investors continued to digest the glut of information from earnings season and kept one eye on upcoming dividend payments. The S&P/NZX 50 Index declined 21 points, or 0.2%, to 12,534.51. Across the main board, 61 stocks fell, 81 rose, and 37 were unchanged. Turnover was $116.7 million, with 13 companies trading on volumes of more than a million shares. North American markets were closed overnight, and stocks were largely muted ahead of US employment figures at the end of the week. These figures...