NZ stocks: Sharemarket trades higher in quiet morning session

12.00pm

The New Zealand sharemarket traded higher through a quiet morning session with two of its top three stocks posting rises.

At 11.30am, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 6.54 points at 2582.44, while the NZSX-All capital index up 2.60 points at 876.46.

Carter Holt Harvey shares were up 1c at 200, while those of Contact Energy were up 5c at 565.

Shares in market heavyweight Telecom were down 4c at 556, accounting for $8.05 million of the $21.9 million on the NZX so far today.

Hamilton Hindin Greene broker Grant Williamson said this morning's session was quiet with little corporate news about.

"We are seeing a bit of a bounce back (from yesterday's 23 point slide) on the back of firmer (overseas) markets," he told NZPA.

Pacific Retail Group (PRG) posted a dividend-less net loss of $22.6 million for the March year, down from a net profit of $18.2 million the previous year.

PRG shares were unchanged at 211c.

"They seem very upbeat in their comments, but a shocking result," Mr Williamson said.

"They seem pretty happy going forward with floating off the retail side of things, but certainly their UK operation (PowerHouse) is soaking up the cash at this stage."

Michael Hill International shares were down 5c at 580 after the company announced it was shedding 28 staff at its Whangarei head office. The company is moving services to its operational headquarters in Brisbane.

"It probably makes sense because that's where the bigger part of their operation is now," Mr Williamson said, noting the share price dip was on very small volume.

Shares in New Zealand Oil & Gas were up 6c at 69 after it yesterday reported "good" oil traces in a 7m column at its Pukeko-1 well in Taranaki.

"It's still very early days yet and investors should remain cautious, but it's certainly showing some very good results at those deeper levels in the wells," Mr Williamson said.

Other shares on the move included: AMP up 5c at 640, Auckland International Airport up 3c at 659, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare up 3c at 1274, F&P Appliances up 3c at 459, Independent Newspapers Ltd up 10c at 480, Waste Management up 9c at 459, TrustPower up 12c at 422, and NGC Holdings up 4c at 250.

There were 45 rises and 24 falls among the 113 stocks traded.

- NZPA