NZ stocks: F&P Healthcare in extremely good health

12.00 pm

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare surged ahead again this morning, prompting speculation its shares could reach highs of $20.

The recently-listed company's popularity continued, contributing heavily to the NZSE-40 capital index, which was up 9.83 points to 2013.20.

F&P dominated the turnover, accounting for $7.1 million of $23.6 million worth of shares. At 11am the health shares were up 70c to 1750, and its poor cousin, F&P Appliances, was also on the rise, up 20c to 890.

DF Mainland broker Greg Arnott said Fisher & Paykel's healthcare division had earned international interest.

"It's looking very firm, and it's got a bit of global attention... certainly in Australia there's the viewpoint that there'll be quite a few buy orders around... There is certainly interest in the healthcare sector at the moment and this thing's getting full attention."

The market was also enjoying the downstream effects of a bullish Wall Street , but its usual Monday morning lethargy meant there was "little to get a hold of" apart from F&P.

Market leader Telecom was flat at 478 on light volumes, while Australian rival Telstra topped the total turnover, rising 6c to 675 on $7.3 million worth of shares.

Takeover target Contact Energy was up 1c at 397, well below the Edison Mission offer, while Frucor regained early weakness to trade flat with the $2.35 bid of French company Groupe Danone.

Retail chain The Warehouse was flat at 640, while a potential rival, Briscoe, was enjoying "huge interest" ahead of its sharemarket float.

Baycorp was down 3c to 1162 as shareholders who did not wish to be part of its merger with Australian credit company Data Advantage exited the stock. The company will delist from the Stock Exchange next month, and the new entity will list in New Zealand as its secondary market.

Other moves included Air NZ A shares down 1c to 36 as the market awaited news on what the Government would pay for its shares. Carter Holt Harvey gained 5c to 164, Advantage Group was up 6c to 52 following its Friday AGM, and Lion Nathan was down 15c to 525.

Rises outnumbered falls by 42 to 20 on 111 stocks traded.

Looking ahead, Mr Arnott said a good week on Wall Street was likely to flow on to New Zealand.

On Saturday New York stocks closed on a healthy note as traders snapped up retail stocks, heartened by signs of strong Christmas sales and that the war in Afghanistan may soon be over.

Deep discounting has helped to lure shoppers into malls despite large job losses and the economic slump following the September 11 air attacks.

"People have begun to look forward and think some of these stocks can recover," said Rick Meckler, president of investment firm LibertyView.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 125.03 points, or 1.27 per cent, to 9959.71, while the broader S&P 500 gained 13.31 points, or 1.17 per cent, to 1150.34. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 28.15 points, or 1.50 per cent, to 1903.20.

- NZPA