NZ stocks: Late interest pushes shares up, Tower the standout

Late interest saw New Zealand shares inch back into the black today after spending much of the day in negative territory.

The NZSE-40 capital index was up 4.75 per cent to 1988.63 on turnover of $65.8 million.

Tower was a standout performer, up 12c at 211 as rumours gained traction that Guinness Peat Group was interested in a 10 per cent chunk of the company.

"Speculation does seem to be mounting that Ron Brierley and his investment vehicle GPG has some involvement in the volumes going through that stock recently," said Grant Williamson, a partner in Hamilton, Hindin, Greene.

"Also, we're starting to see some large volumes going through in the Guinness Peat stock, particularly in Australia ... (But) I don't think anyone knows with any certainty."

Volume has been high in G PG for the last three days and it closed up a cent at $1.51 . GPG declined to comment.

Another fast riser was Christchurch company Scott Technology, which soared to an all-time high of 275 after its announcement yesterday of a $NZ14 million order from the United States. It closed up 18c at 273.

Sky City casino ascended to a fresh all-time high, up 10c at 872. The stock "just powers along," said Mr Williamson.

"I think people are viewing it as a defensive stock in rather uncertain times, still offering a reasonably attractive dividend yield and still the potential for good growth as they bring on the Hamilton casino and further improvements in their Australian operation in Adelaide."

An unexplained rise was from transport company Owens Group, up 6c to 98. Brokers noted that over the past few days it has gained from under 80c to its current level, and wondered if it was connected with Tranz Rail.

Tranz Rail itself was steady at 134 after frenzied interest in a possible Government track buyback.

NZ Oil and Gas put on 2c to 38 after announcing that it was about to start drilling at the Tui-1 well.

"It has the potential to be a very large find if there is anything down there," said Mr Williamson.

"NZ Oil and Gas has not had a lot of luck in the last decade finding oil. Shareholders live in hope."

Blue chip Carter Holt Harvey reversed earlier losses to close up 4c at 180, indicating profit-taking, while Telecom rose 3c to 460 on turnover worth $28 million.

Telecom's rise coincided with a British consultancy report which said that despite negative returns last year, it was still the second best-performing telecommunications company in an international survey.

Other movers included Auckland Airport, up 3c to 532, meat exporter Richmond lost 3c to 280, Ports of Auckland was down 5c to 675, and Independent Newspapers Ltd was down 3c to 312.

The slide in AMP began to show signs of bottoming out, falling just 7c to 1061. During the session, the stock hit a fresh record low of 1060, bringing the total it has lost in the last three days to $1.50, a 12.3 per cent tumble since the company's loss warning on Tuesday.

There were 33 rises and 48 falls on the 130 stocks traded.

On Wall St, brokers admitted that the New Year rally in equities may have been premature, a view reinforced by more weak corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 124.17 points, or 1.47 per cent, to 8318.73, breaching its 2002 close of 8341.63. The Dow had rallied as high as 6 per cent for the year by January 14.

The broad S&P 500 dropped 9.24 points, or 1.04 per cent, to 878.38, dipping under last year's close of 879.82.

The Nasdaq Composite Index eased 4.67 points, or 0.34 per cent, at 1359.58. The technology-laced index is still up 1.8 per cent for the year after ending at 1335.51 in 2002. The Nasdaq had been up more than 9 per cent earlier in the month.

- NZPA