NZ stocks: Confidence holds steady despite broker default

6.00am

Confidence held up on the sharemarket today despite news in the morning that internet and discount retail broking firm Access Brokerage had defaulted and gone into liquidation.

The Serious Fraud Squad has been called in to investigate.

The NZSX-50 gross index closed down 0.22 of a point to 2728.17 while the NZSX-All capital index fell 1.23 to 908.12.

UBS Warburg broker Richard Leggat said investors appeared to have accepted that Access' failure was an isolated event that was not reflective of the market in general.

The effects initially rubbed off on exchange operator NZX whose shares fell over 3 per cent at one stage. However, they recovered by the close to end square on 835.

NZX chief executive Mark Weldon said NZX would strive to ensure none of Access' clients ended up out of pocket. Options included managing the use of the Fidelity Guarantee Fund, pursuing legal action against those responsible, or using NZX's own funds -- which NZX is not legally obliged to do.

Elsewhere there was a dearth of news and trading was lacklustre.

Telecom drifted lower, down 3c to 563, its lowest point in nearly three months.

No.2 stock Carter Holt Harvey fell 2c to 234.

Retailer Briscoe produced a poor result, as it had warned last month. Mr Leggat said that although the 32 per cent fall in half year net profit was in line with the warning, it was still disappointing.

Margins held up but profits fell as a result of fewer sales. Briscoe shares fell 2c to 141.

Fellow discount retailer The Warehouse, which reports its result on Friday, fell 3c to 457. That stock has had a good rebound in recent weeks and Mr Leggat said some investors may be locking profits in ahead of the result.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 25c to 1370 while Fisher & Paykel Appliances resumed its southward journey, falling 4c to 420.

NGC Holdings, which was ex a 10.5c dividend today, closed 14c down at 289. Steel & Tube Holdings, ex a 15c div, fell 19c to 441.

Auckland International Airport (AIA) eased 1c to 705 after slumping 21c on Friday following the discounted sale of a large parcel of shares by Colonial First State. The Australian fund manager sold 22 million shares in AIA, about half of its stake in the company, for 695c per share.

Fletcher Building gained 7c to 526 despite expectations the Reserve Bank will hike interest rates again on Thursday to quell the construction sector.

Contact Energy rose 3c to 588 while fellow power generator TrustPower fell 5c to 470. Sky TV rose 12c to 530 and Westpac NZ rose 14c to 1781.

Telecom as usual dominated turnover with nearly $40 million of the total market's trading of $73.1m.

Falling stocks outnumbered risers 65 to 31 among the 144 traded.

The small stocks index fell 33.63 to 7577.07 while the top 10 index fell 0.99 to 1092.38.

- NZPA