NZ stocks: Heavy trading in Powerco continues to dominate

12.00pm

Heavy trading in takeover target Powerco continued to dominate the sharemarket this morning, with the energy company racking up turnover worth $39.6 million by 11.35am today.

The hefty trade followed on from the $63.5 million worth of Powerco shares traded yesterday. By 11.35am today Powerco was down 1c at 211.

Prime Infrastructure is looking to add to the 53.65 per cent stake it has already secured in Powerco, with an offer of $2.15 per Powerco share. A Takeovers Code exemption allowed Prime to offer offshore investors cash for their parcels, while domestic investors were offered a mix of cash and unsecured bonds -- leading to the flurry of interest from overseas.

The interest in Powerco bolstered total market turnover to $56.67 million by 11.35am.

Telecom, which usually dominates trading, lagged behind on turnover worth $6.58 million. The bellwether stock was unchanged at 591.

By 11.35am today, the benchmark NZSX-50 gross index was up 0.75 of a point to 2829.29, while the NZSX-All capital index had risen 1.46 points to 942.03.

Of the 114stocks traded in the time, there were 39 rises and 30 falls.

Shares in Turners & Growers rose 5c to 340. The company made its NZSX debut yesterday at 320, having previously traded on the unlisted market.

Auckland International Airport rose 1c to 716, after yesterday announcing it was looking at ways to improve road access to the airport.

Other stocks on the move this morning included: Carter Holt Harvey down 2c at 223, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare up 15c at 1525 , NZX up 5c at 785, Toll NZ up 6c at 275 and Port of Tauranga up 10c at 560.

- NZPA