NZ stocks: Market led by Telecom

The New Zealand sharemarket came to life as it was closing when someone bought 2.5 million Telecom shares.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 4.358 points, or 0.159 per cent, at 2750.596. The index was lower before the last minute action in Telecom.

Turnover was worth $119.79 million of which $38.8m was in Telecom shares.

There were 27 rises and 54 falls among the 112 stocks traded.

Brokers said just as the market was closing the order for Telecom shares was placed and "it cleaned up 2.5 million shares".

Telecom closed up 10c, or 3.7 per cent, at 280, the price at which the order was placed.

"It turned the day from a minus day to a positive and turnover is dramatically up," said Stephen Wright at ASB Securities.

Peter Sigley, dealer at Goldman Sachs JBWere, said it was a "market on close" order, which is executed on the close.

"Someone just went in and bid up for a couple of million Telecom shares," he said.

He said it was most likely an institutional investor and he expected the Telecom price to go back down tomorrow as the buyer had filled the order.

The New Zealand market was weak after US stocks fell to their lowest level in 10 weeks as talk of a second government stimulus plan heightened fears that the US economy is not yet on the path to recovery.

The focus is also on the US corporate earnings season starting this week, which is expected to be weak.

Fletcher Building also traded on good volume today, with $21.85m worth of its shares transacted, though the price closed unchanged at 641.

Contact fell 2c to 563 and TrustPower closed down 2c at 750.

The risers included Air NZ, up 2c at 89, Michael Hill, up 1c at 63, Methven, up 2c at 132 and Nuplex, up 2c at 147.

Sanford rose 2c to 530 and Infratil rose 1c to 166.

Mainfreight eased 1c to 425, SkyTV eased 3c to 402 and NZX eased 1c to 719.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare eased 3c to 286 and the appliances stock eased 1c to 66.

APN News and Media eased 6c to 167.

NZOG eased 4c to 142 and Pike River Coal eased 3c to 112.

AMP fell 15c to 575, Tower fell 1c to 170 and Westpac fell 20c to 2380.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 161.27 points, or 1.94 per cent, to 8163.60. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 17.69 points, or 1.97 per cent, to 881.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 41.23 points, or 2.31 per cent, to 1746.17.

- NZPA