NZ stocks: Shares pause after two day surge

The New Zealand sharemarket posted modest gains even as worries about the state of US banks eroded sentiment.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 12.309 points, or 0.437 per cent at 2831.36, as the Australian market turned negative and future prices indicated a fall in the US market when it opens.

The gains by the New Zealand market were more modest than the 53 points yesterday and 46 points on Monday.

Turnover today was worth $94 million of which $28.7m was in Telecom shares. There were 44 rises and 30 falls among the 116 stocks traded.

"The market is still in positive territory and has not been too worried about the stress tests of US banks and US stock futures," said Stephen Wright of ASB Securities.

He said stocks exposed to the domestic market tended to do better.

Telecom was among the best performers of the leaders, rising 5c to 283. Lawyers for Telecom today told the High Court that emissions from transmitters from its new mobile phone network are within acceptable levels.

Telecom was responding in the High Court at Auckland to legal action brought by its rival Vodafone trying to stop it rolling out its new network on May 13. The decision has been reserved and is expected tomorrow.

Fletcher Building retreated 12c to 681 and late today announced it had raised $120 million from the share purchase plan and top up offer.

Contact Energy was down 5c to 605.

NZX, operator of the market in which capital is being successfully raised by a number of companies, rose 14c to 765.

Rakon rose 9c to 159, having disclosed a new research project this week.

Infratil was down 5c to 160 and Lion Nathan was down 18c to 1480.

SkyTV rose 5c to 430 and Hallenstein Glasson rose 9c to 270. Tenon rose 5c to 80.

The Warehouse was up 3c to 378, Fisher & Paykel Appliances was up 5c to 61.

Dual-listed bank ANZ was down 10c early to 2120, but Westpac rose 1c to 2520 after reporting its interim profit today.

US stocks fell on Tuesday as cautious investors fretted about impending bank stress test results and energy shares succumbed to the pressure of lower oil prices.

Selling was seen across the board with big-cap technology companies, banks, home builders and big manufacturers dragging indexes lower. These sectors have all been among the market's bright spots during the two-month rebound.

The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 16.09 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 8410.65 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 3.44 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 903.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 9.44 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 1754.12.

- NZPA