Telecom continues to pull NZ sharemarket lower

Photo / Paul Estcourt

Telecom shares continued to weigh on the market this morning, falling another 2.48 per cent after the company did not make a prioritised list for a portion of the Government's ultra-fast broadband project.

The benchmark NZX-50 index opened down 4.538 points, or 0.144 per cent, at 3147.223, on a day overseas markets performed slightly better as optimism returned because of relatively positive US data.

Telecom was down 5c to 197, after closing down 11c to $2.02 yesterday when the Government's Crown Fibre Holdings (CFH) released a list of three initial investment partners named for prioritised talks - Telecom wasn't one of them.

It is on a list of 14 companies which CFH said remained important contenders for future negotiations and would continue in a partner selection process.

The Warehouse shares were up 1c to $3.70 after it announced a $83.2 million net profit after tax for the year ended August 1, down 2.4 per cent from last year. After reducing $22.8m relating to government tax charges, the net profit after tax was down 21.6 per cent to $60.2m.

Nuplex rose 1c to $3.40 after it signalled yesterday it was considering moving its primary listing to Australia.

Tower was up 2c to $1.89 and Air New Zealand was up 1c to $1.27.

Contact Energy rose 1c to $5.72, New Zealand Oil & Gas rose 1c to $1.32, and New Zealand Refining rose 1c to $3.23.

Steel & Tube was up 2c to $2.48, while Fletcher Building and Cavalier Carpets were down 4c to $8.18 and 2c to $2.78 respectively. All are expected to provide services in the earthquake-hit Christchurch.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 1c to $2.99 and Sanford fell 2c to $4.00.

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In US, stocks rose on Thursday as better-than-expected jobs and trade data helped lift optimism about the economic recovery, although sentiment was fragile as investors fretted over European banks.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 28.23 points, or 0.27 per cent to 10,415.24. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 5.31 points, or 0.48 per cent to 1104.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 7.33 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 2236.20.

- NZPA