NZ Stocks: Shares driven by healthy Aussie bourse

WELLINGTON - New Zealand stocks with exposure to Australia got a leg-up today as the Australian sharemarket steamed ahead.

The NZSX-50 gross index limped 3 points higher, to 3368.04 on mild turnover worth $71m

However, it was no match for the Australian sharemarket which hit a fresh record high, buoyed by a strong day on Wall Street and better prices for gold, copper and oil.

At 3.47pm NZT, the Australian benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 41.9 points or 0.87 per cent to a record 4,833 -- outpacing by 2 points its previous all-time high struck last Thursday.

Forsyth Barr equities dealer Richard Burton said the New Zealand market's comparatively lacklustre performance indicated there were jitters about an economic slowdown.

"The Aussie market's are open and the money's pouring in...whereas here people are still a bit nervous, not so sure."

Stocks that had Australian involvement or were dual-listed included Sky City, up 9c to 482; Telstra, up 7c to 442; Promina, up 5c to 540; Mainfreight, up 3c to 368; Westpac, up 23c to 2512; Goodman was up 5c to 231; and AMP, up 15c to 855.

Sky City has Australian earnings, tourism exposure and had been through the shake-up of the anti-smoking laws, Mr Burton said.

Trans-Tasman stocks which bucked the trend included jeweller Michael Hill, down 5c to 780, Fletcher Building, down 5c to 743, and Hallenstein Glasson down 8c to 452, although they were tied to the easing Australian property and retail sectors.

The Warehouse, which recently exited Australia, was up 7c to 354 on low and volatile volume.

Top stock Telecom Corp ended flat at 599. Domestic stock Hellaby fell 5c to 455, while technology stock Cadmus jumped a cent to 22 and juice company Charlies lost 0.3c to 14.

Market news included an announcement that automotive parts group Repco Corporation Ltd would delist from the New Zealand exchange on February 3 due to listing costs and low liquidity here.

Repco shares ended flat at 248.

Infratil was 2c higher to 371 after news that its bus company Stagecoach New Zealand had entered into a conditional agreement to buy out Mana Coach Services.

Trustpower eased 2c to 614 after announcing it was building another wind farm south of Dunedin at a potential cost of $500m.

Carter Holt Harvey ended flat at 253, but still 3c above the Graeme Hart takeover offer bid. Mr Burton suggested the higher price showed some investors were clinging on, and Mr Hart might struggle to achieve his 90 per cent ownership target.

"Why wouldn't you want to invest in Graeme Hart at the same price as him?" Mr Burton asked.

There were 55 rises and 45 falls on 143 stocks traded.

On Friday, a week-long rally pushed major Wall St indices to their highest closes in 4 1/2 years, amid growing confidence that recent interest-rate rises would end soon.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 0.7 per cent to 10,959.31, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up nearly one per cent at 1285.45, and the Nasdaq Composite Index ended 1.2 per cent higher at 2305.62.

- NZPA