There has been a drop in Air New Zealand's share price in the wake of the Government's 20 per cent sell-down as trading resumed today morning.

Since the Government insisted on a maximisation of kiwi ownership, which now stands at about 88% including the Crown's remaining 53% holding, overseas institutions were scaled the most.

41% of the stock on offer for retail investors was picked up by the brokers, local institutions got 43% and offshore funds picked up just 16%.

The shares went down 3.3% to $1.595 today, just under the level the Government sale was first pitched at on Monday before the demand drove up the final price.

Some market participants mentioned that the Government has done to get that price, which was close to a five-year high - the top end of its range since the global financial crisis.

Head of research at Craigs Investment Partners Mark Liste said, he had expected the shares to go up in value this morning.

He felt that one reason for the price drop could be people selling shares after receiving more than they expected in the book build process.

The benchmark NZX50 index was down 15.05 points or 0.31 per cent this morning to 4847.