NZ stocks: Feltex helps jump start sharemarket

The sharemarket sparked back to life today, driven by strong turnover in Feltex.

The benchmark NZSX-50 gross index rose 14.53 points to 2693.47, while the NZSX-All index was up 3.43 points at 903.84.

Telecom was up 3c at 586, but for once the stock did not dominate turnover. Instead Feltex took top honours, turning over 8.2 million shares worth $13.7 million.

ABN Amro Craig's Matt Willis said most of the turnover seemed to be the organising broker behind Feltex's recent float selling off its overhang of stock.

"I think the residual stock from the issue and from staggers (profit takers) looks to have been cleaned out today, and that's a good sign," Mr Willis said.

Feltex rose 3c to 171, to close above its 170 issue price for the first time since it listed on June 4.

Total market turnover today was worth $73.1 million. Of the 158 stocks traded there were 61 rises and 46 falls.

Other market leaders also had good showings today, with Carter Holt Harvey up 5c at 212, Auckland International Airport up 11c at 675, and Contact Energy up 10c at 591.

ABN Amro Craig's Matt Willis said the market was still focused on the sale of the US-based Edison Mission Energy's stake in Contact.

He said it looked like the facility Edison used to finance their purchase of Contact would cease to exist once it sold its stake, which would mean debt securities like redeemable preference shares, would be redeemed.

"These transactions have the potential to release a lot of money back into the market," Mr Willis said. "I think investors are starting to position themselves more and more for that."

Michael Hill Jeweller continued its recent good run, up 11c at 617.

The company reported a increase in annual same-store sales earlier this week, led by strong growth in the Australian market.

"Results like this are probably starting to endorse their ability to successfully replicate their model in offshore markets -- and if they can do it in Canada (too), who knows what the upside potential is," Mr Willis said.

Promina was up 4c at 432. The company today announced the impending name change of its New Zealand funds management unit, from Guardian Trust Funds Management to Tyndall Investment Management New Zealand.

On the negative side, fresh listing Dominion Finance slipped 4c to 101, after gaining 5c yesterday on its sharemarket debut.

Fletcher Building fell 3c to 467, Waste Management fell 2c to 478, and Nuplex was down 6c at 526.

- NZPA