Pike shares suspended, NZ market rises

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Trading in Pike River Coal Ltd shares was suspended and trading in the shares of its biggest shareholder New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG) was halted today as the investment community extended their sympathies and also waited for news.

"The board and staff of NZOG extend their thoughts and sympathies to the men trapped at the Pike River Coal mine, their families, friends and colleagues," the company said. The mine project was developed by NZOG over two decades before Pike River Coal was floated in 2007.

News of the blast at the mine late on Friday afternoon that has left 29 miners unaccounted for pushed the price of Pike shares down to 61 Australian cents in the Australian market on Friday before trading was halted. The shares closed in New Zealand on Friday at 88 New Zealand cents and have fallen from a year high of 123 on October 12. Port of Lyttelton, which handles Pike's exports, fell 6c to 225 today.

"There is no assured outcome here and we are waiting for news. The market is more concerned at the moment for the lives of the people down there so there hasn't been any talk about when the shares come back on," said James Lee, head of institutional equities at First NZ Capital.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 28.479 points, or 0.871 per cent, at 3296.631. There were 50 rises and 38 falls among the 118 stocks traded. Turnover was worth $77 million.

Asian markets rose in the wake of modest gains on Wall Street and news that Ireland had agreed to a bailout package from the EU and IMF

Fletcher Building rose 12c to 805, Telecom rose 5c to 218 and Contact Energy rose 2c to 597. SkyCity rose 6c to 317, Tourism Holdings rose 3c to 74 and Freightways rose 8c to 303.

The market also had to absorb news today that Standard & Poor's has put New Zealand on notice of a possible credit rating downgrade. The move knocked a cent off the NZ dollar in a matter of minutes, which was positive for export stocks.

Mr Lee said it was a big week for investors with Fisher & Paykel healthcare and appliances reporting, annual meetings for The Warehouse and Kathmandu and briefings by SkyTV and Sanford in the diary.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 3c to 302. Xero was unchanged at 213. The Warehouse rose 5c to 382, SkyTV rose 8c to 533 and Goodman Fielder rose 4c to 185.

Guinness Peat Group fell 2c to 70, NZ Farming Systems Uruguay fell 1c to 62, TrustPower fell 4c to 745 and Air NZ fell 1c to 132. Sanford was unchanged at 470.

Charlie's rose 1.1c to 16 after signalling a possible maiden dividend next year as the company expands in Australia. Dorchester Pacific rose 1.5c to 12.5c, while Sealegs fell 2c to 18.

Ryman Healthcare and Property for Industry also paid tribute today to director Michael Cashin who died on Friday aged 64.

In the United States, stocks ended flat for the week as investors backed away from a strong autumn advance.

The major stock indexes finished little changed for the day after China's central bank raised bank reserve requirements for the second time in two weeks, stepping up its fight to rein in prices in a move that could temper growth.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.2 per cent to 11,203.55, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index edged up 0.3 per cent at 1199.73, and the Nasdaq Composite Index put on 0.2 per cent to 2518.12.

- NZPA