NZ stocks: Sluggish start to trading day

The sharemarket had edged up slightly by late this morning, after a sluggish start to trading.

By 11.35am today the benchmark NZSX-50 index had gained 1.18 points to 2976.52, while the NZSX-All capital index was down 1.34 points to 978.00.

Telecom slipped 1c to 594 on turnover worth $8.5 million. Total market turnover by 11.35am was worth $24.5 million. Rises and falls were fairly evenly split at 313 and 28 respectively among the 132 stocks traded.

Provenco nudged up a cent to 77c, despite Friday's news that the Securities Commission had filed insider trading proceedings against listed the company. Provenco issued a statement quickly denying the commission's allegations, saying it believed it operated within the law and with the best interests of shareholders in mind when it bought back shares in early 2003.

Pacific Retail Group was unchanged at 205. The group is considering a separate sharemarket listing for its Finance Group next year.

THL was also unchanged at 204. The company's $2 million Fullers ferry Tiger III has been stuck on rocks at Cape Brett off the Northland coast since grounding on Saturday. THL said in a statement today it did not expect any material impact on profit as a result of the accident as its insurance covered both craft replacement and loss of profits.

Briscoes slumped 16c, or 12c, to 114 after downgrading its profit forecast late on Friday. The group said a slow start to the year meant it expected an after-tax January year profit of about $17.1 million.

Fellow retailer The Warehouse also had a bad start to the day, falling 7c to 367, while Michael Hill Jeweller fell 12c to 788.

But sharemarket darling Pumpkin Patch surged to a record high after upping its full year forecast. The children's clothing retailer gained 30c, or 12 per cent, to 280. The company said today it expected its net profit after tax for the year-ending July 2005 to be no less than $23 million, up 48 per cent on the $15.5 million posted the previous year.

Other stocks on the move by 11.35am today included: Contact Energy up 5c at 626, Infratil down 9c at 324, NZ Refining up 30c at 3150, Vertex up 4c at 154 and Wrightson up 1c at 187.

Meanwhile in the US on Friday the Dow Jones industrial average ended down 55.72 points at 10,649.92, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed down 9.01 points at 1194.20 and the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was down 10.95 points at 2135.20.

- NZPA