Chorus extends slide as NZ shares fall

NEW Zealand shares fell for a second day, retreating from a five-year high as Chorus extended its slide on concerns about price regulation and Xero fell from a record high.

The NZX 50 Index dropped 33.396 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 4015.69. Within the index, 29 stocks fell, nine rose and 12 were unchanged.

Turnover was about $190 million, with heavy turnover in Chorus for a second day.

Equity markets generally fell across the Asia-Pacific region following unexpectedly weak US manufacturing and concerns the US Congress won't find a way to head off the fiscal cliff.

Xero, the cloud-based accounting service, dropped 9.1 per cent to $7 having soared on Monday after two US funds bought shares, giving the unprofitable company enough cash for three years as it chases global sales.

Chorus, the network company spun off from Telecom last year, fell 4.5 per cent to $7, adding to Monday's 14 per cent decline.

About 11.5 million shares changed hands.

Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday it may cut the Baa2 credit rating on some $US2 billion of the company's debt because of the impact of Commerce Commission's draft plan to curb prices it can charge rivals.

"This is a pretty material outcome for Chorus and a very big hit on its ebitda," said James Lindsay, equities manager at Tyndall Investment Management.

"It is essential it does get reviewed."

Telecom fell 1.9 per cent to $2.27 and Sky Network Television declined 2.1 per cent to $5.15.

OceanaGold was unchanged at $4.10 after announcing plans to raise up to $C108 million in a fully-underwritten share issue to repay debt and bolster its balance sheet.

Delegat's Group fell 1.6 per cent to $3.05 after flagging a small increase in annual earnings for 2013, while warning that the strong kiwi dollar is making life hard for the wine-maker

Among smaller stocks, upscale Wellington retailer Kirkcaldie & Stains was unchanged at $3.05 after saying a mystery buyer for its Harbour City Centre on Wellington's Lambton Quay has walked away after deciding the building wasn't the right fit as an investment.

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Stocks to watch at close on Tuesday

TOCKS to watch on the Australian stock exchange at close on Tuesday:

GNC - GRAINCORP LTD - up 38 cents at $12.32

Graincorp is likely to reject US food processing giant Archer Daniels Midland Company's (ADM) second takeover bid, a market analyst says.

PMV - PREMIER INVESTMENTS LTD - down seven cents at $6.40

Retail company Premier Investments says the lack of GST on overseas online purchases under $1000 is seriously harming Australian businesses.

SGP - STOCKLAND GROUP - down two cents at $3.38

Property group Stockland has warned its earnings will fall by 15 per cent if the Victorian market fails to show any improvement.

WHC - WHITEHAVEN COAL LTD - down two cents at $3.01

Whitehaven Coal says a train derailment will interrupt shipments from the company's Narrabri mine in NSW for at least another fortnight.

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Aust shares close lower

THE Australian share market closed lower after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut its cash rate to three per cent, a level not seen since the global financial crisis.

At the close on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 27.9 points, or 0.62 per cent, lower at 4,503.6, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 28.2 points, or 0.62 per cent, at 4,511.8.

On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was 42 points lower at 4,508, with 22,952 contracts traded.

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Air NZ testicle 'joke' hits a bum note

AIR New Zealand's latest promotion has bombed, with the airline accused of transphobia over a "joke" suggesting disgraced female Belarusian shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk has testicles.

The company launched a Christmas Cracker promotion on its Grabaseat site on Monday, giving people the chance to win prizes.

Those who don't win a prize get a consolation joke instead - with one reading: "What large heavy ball was responsible for Valerie Adams' gold medal? The Belarusian's left testicle."

The so-called joke is a reference to Ostapchuk winning - and later being stripped of - the shotput gold medal at the Olympics earlier this year after testing positive for a banned steroid.

The medal was later awarded to Kiwi shotputter Adams.

Air NZ has taken a hammering on social media, with Twitter users calling on it to apologise for the "unbelievably offensive" joke, and pledging to boycott its services.

Rather than apologise, Air NZ responded by tweeting: "not everyone likes our xmas cracker jokes so tell us your tacky kiwi jokes & we'll add our favourites into the cracker".

Air NZ is not the first company to face a backlash over mocking Ostapchuk's gender and fall from grace.

Sandwich chain Habitual Fix took a hammering in August after creating a poster with a picture of Ostapchuk to sell its "manwich", featuring the catchlines "no added hormones or steroids" and "no hidden a-genders".

The latest Air NZ blunder comes just a month after the airline made headlines by giving spooky names to its domestic destinations for Halloween, with the South Island's Blenheim becoming Beastheim'.

The town - where serial sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson committed crimes over 26 years that saw him dubbed "the Beast of Blenheim" - was not amused.

Air NZ axed Beastheim from the promotion.

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Japan's missiles on standby

TOKYO has begun deploying a surface-to-air missile defence system and is putting its armed forces on standby ahead of a planned North Korean missile launch this month, reports and officials said Monday.

Public broadcaster NHK reported that a naval vessel carrying PAC-3 (Patriot Advanced Capability-3) ballistic missiles left a western Japan naval base on Monday, headed for the country's southern Okinawa island chain.

Defence Minister Satoshi Morimoto on Saturday ordered the military to prepare for the rocket launch, with a defence ministry spokesman telling AFP that "our ground, marine, and air forces are now preparing to deploy troops in Okinawa", which the rocket may fly over.

Tokyo is also planning to deploy Aegis warships in neighbouring waters, the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun and other Japanese media reported Monday.

Officials are preparing to issue an advance order as soon as Friday to shoot down the rocket if it looks set to fall on Japanese territory, after an emergency meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Noda on Monday called for close cooperation with the United States, China, South Korea and Russia in preparation for the planned launch, which has drawn international condemnation.

"I have ordered cabinet ministers to gather and analyse information closely with each other and as we closely collaborate with related countries," Noda was quoted by Dow Jones Newswires as saying.

The communist North announced on Saturday that it would launch a rocket between December 10 and 22 - its second long-range rocket launch this year after a much-hyped but botched attempt in April.

It has reportedly notified neighbours including Japan of the trajectory of the planned launch.

Washington and Seoul urged Pyongyang to scrap the launch while Tokyo reportedly postponed talks due this week with North Korea.

In April, Japan ordered missile-defence preparations, including placing one of its PAC-3 systems next to the defence ministry building in central Tokyo in response to the earlier launch.

Military preparations were also made in 2009 ahead of another North Korean rocket launch.

China, the North's main ally and key benefactor, said Sunday it was concerned at the rocket launch plans, according to state media.

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Perth man faces death penalty if convicted

PERTH man Dominic Bird remains in good spirits despite facing a mandatory death sentence if convicted by a Malaysian court on drugs charges.

The 32-year-old appeared in the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday for the first day of what is likely to be a lengthy legal process.

Bird has pleaded not guilty to two charges, the most serious of which relates to drug dealing and carries a mandatory death sentence.

He has also been charged with drug use.

Bird was arrested in a police sting on March 1 at Old Town White Coffee, a cafe on Jalan Dang Wangi in central Kuala Lumpur.

It's alleged he offered to sell undercover police 167 grams of methamphetamine.

The drugs Bird had allegedly been carrying in a Mr Potato chips container were presented to the court on Monday.

Handcuffed and dressed in a black pinstripe suit and wearing a white and grey-striped tie, Bird was accompanied in court by his father and sister, as well as a number of close friends, who sat huddled behind him.

Earlier, before the trial began and during an adjournment, they chatted with an apparently upbeat Bird, who smiled at times and shared an occasional joke.

Despite the prospect of a death sentence hanging over him, Bird appeared to be in good spirits.

The prosecution will call eight witnesses, and is expected to complete its case by Friday.

Prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib told AAP that it was highly likely a verdict would not be delivered until next year.

Mr Gharib has vowed to appeal if Bird is acquitted.

He said he expected Bird's legal team would also appeal if he is convicted, ensuring a lengthy legal process.

The appeals process would mean that it would be 2014 at the earliest before Bird learns his fate.

The trial has been adjourned until Tuesday.

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Taliban suicide attack on Afghan NATO base

TALIBAN insurgents have launched a major attack against a NATO base at an Afghan airport with suicide car bombs, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small arms fire.

The Taliban claimed on Sunday insurgents had entered the airport at Jalalabad, near the eastern border with Pakistan, but this was denied by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

"Insurgents including suicide bombers attacked the perimeter of the Jalalabad air base this morning," a spokesman told AFP.

"None of the attackers succeeded breaching the perimeter."

The airport complex has multiple layers of security, with the NATO base set well back from the first entrance, which an Afghan official said had been breached.

There were no early reports of ISAF casualties but one Afghan security force member was reportedly killed and another was wounded, the spokesman said.

An Afghan security official told AFP he had seen five dead men in Afghan army uniform, but it was unclear whether they were soldiers or Taliban attackers.

The Taliban said their militants had entered the airport, and an Afghan government official confirmed that clashes had taken place within the airport complex.

"First a fedayee (suicide bomber) mujahid... detonated a car bomb causing the enemy heavy casualties and losses and removed all the barriers," the Taliban said on their website.

"After the attack other fedayee mujahids entered the base... and started attacking the invading forces in the base."

A guard said that after the initial huge explosion the airport had come under fire from rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small arms.

The hardline Taliban Islamists have waged an 11-year insurgency against the Afghan government, which is backed by 100,000 NATO troops, since being overthrown in a US-led invasion for harbouring Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The airport has come under attack on two previous occasions this year.

On February 27, six civilians, an Afghan soldier and two local guards were killed in a suicide car bomb attack on the military base at Jalalabad airport, but NATO troops escaped unhurt.

The airport also came under attack on April 15, when the Taliban launched their spring offensive with a series of commando-style assaults across Afghanistan.

The latest assault comes as the usual summer fighting season should be drawing to a close and shows that the insurgency remains resilient as NATO forces prepare to withdraw in 2014.

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Man charged with murder in Qld hit-and-run

A MAN has been charged with the murder of a teenage boy who died in a hit-and-run outside a wild house party near Brisbane.

Police say between 100 and 150 people were at the party in Station Road, Woodridge when a brawl erupted and spilled on to the street.

Jordan Matehaere Tukaki, 17, was seriously injured in a hit-and-run during the fracas and later died in hospital.

A 21-year-old man has been charged with murder, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and callous disregard. He will appear in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Monday.

His car has been seized and is undergoing forensic testing.

Jordan's family released a statement on Sunday, saying he was just weeks away from celebrating his 18th birthday.

"Jordan had such a bright future and outgoing personality, loved music, was an awesome rapper, who would stop to help anyone in need," the statement read.

He is survived by his mother Tia, grandmother Jan and brothers and sisters.

Nearby resident Asmatullah Nasrullahi said he heard people swearing and yelling on the street before seeing a car speed away on Saturday night.

"I was a bit scared because I was at home by myself," he told AAP.

"I could just tell by the noise outside that something was going to happen."

Mr Nasrullahi said he was not surprised the incident occurred in his street.

"This is a low income area and the kids who live here don't have any chance for a good life," he said.

Detective Inspector Christopher Jory rejected witness accounts the brawl was either gang or racially motivated.

"There's nothing to suggest that from our investigations at all," he said.

Acting Superintendent Darren Harland says the party was gatecrashed after it was advertised on Facebook.

"(There is) the potential for uninvited people to arrive at your party and if you advertise on social media, this can be one of the consequences," Supt Harland told reporters in Logan on Sunday.

Police on Sunday were doorknocking residents in the street as they continued their investigations.

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Car park craze as HK property cools

CURBS on buying property in Hong Kong have cooled a market pushed sky-high by mainland Chinese investors. But the steps have sparked a craze for an unlikely new investment - car parking space.

The Asian financial hub slapped new taxes on residential properties in late October to rein in prices, amid growing complaints from Hong Kong citizens that buying even a tiny apartment was now out of their reach.

Mainland Chinese buyers were largely blamed for the increase in prices, which have skyrocketed by 90 per cent since 2009 as they flocked to the city with their new wealth amid the country's economic boom.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying hoped the curbs would calm anger over the issue in the space-starved southern city of seven million people, after previous promises of making more land available did little to help the situation.

The curbs appear to be working but have also had unusual side-effects, with the city's imaginative investors now focusing on car parking spaces, which analysts say could hit an all-time high.

The issue grabbed the public's attention with a single sale of parking spaces for $HK1.3 million ($A160,510) last month, according to reports.

It was the most expensive sale when tycoon Li Ka-shing's flagship Cheung Kong Holdings offloaded 514 car park slots for a total of $HK600 million.

Some of the slots, located in the New Territories area of Hong Kong bordering mainland China, were reportedly quickly resold for profits of up to $HK300,000 each.

People who sell the spaces said they had seen a surge in activity, which they believed was because the slots are not affected by the new taxes, as well as being maintenance-free and relatively cheaper than buying a property.

They say car parking spaces were not previously a popular investment in a city which has only about half a million private cars and is well connected by a vast public transport system.

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Tas bushfire crews battle strong winds

BUSHFIRE crews in Tasmania are battling strong winds as they try to contain more than 20 blazes across the state.

Causing most concern are fires within sight of Hobart's northern suburbs, south of the capital on Bruny Island and near Geeveston, and in the state's central highlands.

Nearby communities have been told to activate their bushfire plans and consider leaving, while other people have been asked to stay away from the affected areas.

"Even though we don't have the hot, dry conditions we had yesterday, this wind is causing us a lot of grief," Tasmania Fire Service spokesman Andrew McGuiness told the ABC.

"It's going to take crews basically all day to get on top of the fires that we've got burning around the south of the state."

Winds of 45-80km/h are expected in the south of the state until Saturday evening.

Communities that may be affected include Hobart's northern suburb of Berriedale, and the holiday village of Adventure Bay on Bruny Island.

The Tasmania Fire Service says power outages might still occur near Great Lake in the central highlands.

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