NZ stocks: Telecom spat forces market down

Telecom's spat with the Commerce Commission saw it dominate trading on the New Zealand sharemarket - helping keep the top 50 indicator in the negative.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 14 points, or 0.535 per cent, to 2616.254 at 5pm today.

Turnover was worth $70.3 million.

Telecom stocks worth nearly $20 million changed hands and saw its share price lose 5c to 229 as it, along with Vodafone, engaged in a public spat with the Commerce Commission over mobile termination rates.

Auckland Airport was the next most heavily traded stock and lost 2c to 169.

There was a little bit of profit taking and Wall St markets were firmer but that did not seem to affect the NZ market too much, said Grant Williamson, director of Hamilton, Hindin, Greene.

"We are lacking any corporate news in the marketplace but over the past two weeks we have seen more retail investors come back in."

Investors were looking for a bit more risk and some of the distressed companies, whose stocks had previously been sold aggressively, were able to regain ground.

They included Fisher & Paykel Appliances, which today rose 8c to 51 and Nuplex, which was up 15c to 103.

Contact Energy appeared to be fluctuating around $6 and lost 12c to 575 today, but there was no news in the market place to put it down to, Mr Williamson said.

In other stocks, Plus SMS lost 4c to 8, L&M Petroleum shed 11 to 98 and Kingfish lost 4c to 73.

Meanwhile, Australian shares rose 1.5 per cent today, extending the week's gains, with property and banking stocks up on hopes that the freeze in global credit markets is starting to thaw.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index stood 52.8 points higher at 3662.1 just after 5pm NZT, just off an intra-day peak at 3666.3 which was its highest level since January 14.

Asian markets resumed their climb Thursday as better-than-forecast economic data in the US buoyed hopes that government stimulus measures are starting to heal the global economy.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 62.05 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 8,542.04, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 313.74, or 2.3 per cent, to 13,935.85.

Asian investors found further encouragement after Wall Street ended an erratic session higher to extend its strong gains this month. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 89.94, or 1.17 per cent, at 7749.81, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.63, or 0.95 per cent, to 813.88.

US stock index futures pointed to more gains Thursday in the US, with Dow futures up 65 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 7745, and S&P 500 futures up 8.3 per cent to 816.5.

- NZPA