NZ stocks: Air NZ punished in thin trading

Players on the local sharemarket obviously found little to tempt them back from holiday early, resulting in a tiny turnover yesterday.

The NZSE-40 capital index closed down 3.78 points (0.19 per cent) at 2042.51, while the small companies' NZSE-SCI capital index ended down 4.03 points at 5019.71.

Turnover for the first day back from the Easter holiday was 26.76 million shares valued at $46.06 million, topped by Auckland Airport's $9.32 million.

Air New Zealand shares were punished, as expected after Australia's aviation watchdog grounded subsidiary Ansett Australia's 767 fleet over the busy Easter period, although the shares opened stronger than predicted, ABN Amro Craigs' Mike Hare said.

Within moments of the local market's opening, Air NZ's resident-only A-shares plunged 5c (4.95 per cent) to 96c, while its unrestricted B-shares fell 13c (8.97 per cent) to $1.32.

The A shares closed down 6c at 95c, on reasonable turnover of 2.39 million, while the B shares recovered to end down 8c at $1.37, off the day's low of $1.30.

"We thought they would open a bit lower so it was surprising to see such good support come in so early on. They finished a bit stronger than what we might have suspected," Mr Hare said.

"But the stock has been heavily sold down over the last few months. They've had their own issues without the Ansett issues as well. The environment in Australia's been very tough for them ... The share price has been so heavily discounted recently it was difficult for it to fall a whole lot further than it has."

BIL , which has 30 per cent of Air NZ, slipped 4c to 64c.

Elsewhere on the market little was happening. "It was a bit like a standard Monday really, but even worse due to a few of the investors staying away on holiday," Mr Hare said.

Carter Holt Harvey, headed by chief executive Chris Liddell, fell ahead of its fourth quarter and full year announcement today, shedding 7c to $1.73.

"People are expecting a fairly difficult result. We're looking for around $23 million (for the quarter), which would be well down on the previous quarter," Mr Hare said.

The Warehouse was unchanged at $6.02, despite going ex its 8.5c dividend.

Telecom was up 7c at $5.86 on thin volumes, Telstra rose 11c to $8.51 and Sky TV was up 3c at $3.30.

Ports of Auckland gained 5c to $5.55, Advantage Group was up 3c at 77c and Auckland Airport rose 2c to $3.60.

Tranz Rail fell 5c to $3.65, casino operator Sky City was down 5c at $9.45, Lion Nathan shed 4c to $5.16, and Contact Energy eased 1c to $2.95. Nufarm rose 15c to $3.80 on light volume.

- NZPA