NZ stocks: Australian effect buoys big players

6.00pm

Propelled by pick-ups in overseas markets, the New Zealand sharemarket enjoyed modest but sound gains on light turnover today.

The top 50 gross index was up 14.46 points or 0.736 percent at 1978.89, while the top 40 capital index was up 15.01 points or 0.777 percent at 1944.95.

First NZ Capital retail research manager Barry Lindsay told NZPA the firm market today was no surprise to dealers.

"We expected to see an advance in the market, given the gains that had been seen overnight on Wall St and also the pick-up in the UK and European equity markets prior to Wall St's performance... in other words a good day was always in store."

The local market received further impetus when the Australian market opened with a quite sharp rise.

Mr Lindsay said the "Australian effect" was seen most strongly in the dual listed companies ANZ, AMP and Lion Nathan, with all three being "quite clearly much stronger" and enjoying gains today of over 3 percent.

AMP gained 30c to 9250, ANZ 70c to 2100 and Lion Nathan was up 20c to 605.

Also moving higher on the "Australian effect" were Sky TV, up 10c or 2.6 percent to 390, Sky City up 14c or 1.7 percent to 830, and market stalwart Telecom, which put on 4c to finish at 462.

Telecom was today's top stock traded by both volume and value in a market still affected by the Easter holiday and Friday's holiday to mark Anzac Day. The day's trading saw 19,347,786 shares with a value of $50.9 million changing hands.

"All in all we had quite a solid performance by some large names and the stand out gain was for those dual listed with Australia," Mr Lindsay said.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's stressed rail operator Tranz Rail lost all its modest gains from yesterday, falling 4c to 42.

Fletcher Forests' ordinary shares slipped below the one dollar mark for the first time since shooting up to 120 earlier this year when it announced the sale of forest cutting rights last January. Today, the company was back were it started, falling 2c to 99.

Among stocks to rise were Fletcher Building up 6c to 335, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare up 10c to 1065, INL up 5c to 395, Port of Tauranga up 5c to 430, Contact Energy up 5c to 452, Michael Hill up 3c to 430, Sky TV up 10c to 390, and the Warehouse up 5c to 550.

Stocks to fall included Auckland International Airport down 3c to 497, Air New Zealand down 1c to 40 after announcing cuts to both its full year profit forecast and flights because of the effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome, Baycorp down 2c to 160, Ports of Auckland down 3c to 695, Sanford down 10c to 550, and Steel and Tube down 5c to 325.

There were 45 rises and 35 falls on 119 stocks traded.

- NZPA