NZ stocks: Market finishes on positive note

6.40pm

The New Zealand sharemarket turned in a reasonable performance today, with both major indices finishing on a positive note, a broker said.

At 5pm, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 6.48 points at 2298.08, while the NZSX-40 capital index was up 1.29 points at 2189.89.

Among the 136 stocks traded today were 45 rises and 43 falls.

Market heavyweight Telecom finished up 1c at 492 after trading $30.6 million worth on volume of 6.2 million.

There was $80.1 million worth of shares traded on turnover of 29.2 million on New Zealand Exchange by 5pm.

ABN Amro Craigs operator Matt Willis said the day's trading had been reasonable, perhaps a catch-up after yesterday's Labour Weekend holiday.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and F&P Appliances stood out in today's trading, he said.

Healthcare finished down 29c at 1171, their lowest level in nearly three months, having traded between 900 and 1300 this year.

Appliances closed down 15c at 1460, their lowest since October 2, having traded between 925 and 1530 this year.

"I think Healthcare is probably driving the fall," Mr Willis told NZPA today.

The strengthening New Zealand dollar, which closed at US61.05 at 5pm, had an impact on the outlook for export companies regardless of their currency hedging, he said.

"Most of Healthcare's receipts are in US dollars and most of its costing is in US dollars as well," Mr Willis said.

"They are very much exposed to the currency and its reflecting in their share price and that's dragging Appliances down," he said.

Meanwhile, Shares in ANZ Banking Group finished the session down 25c at 2100.

On Friday, the stock was placed in a trading halt in advance of the bank's announcement it was to buy the National Bank of New Zealand from Britain's Lloyds TSB in a $6.27 billion deal.

ANZ plans a A$3.6 billion ($4.19 billion) rights issue to fund the purchase and the price of the new shares -- A$13.00 -- is well below the A$18.30 dollars at which ANZ shares last traded.

ANZ said it would consider seeking a NZ stock exchange listing of the combined group and a public offer of shares, but not before 2006.

In other market news, shares on the rise today included: AMP up 4c at 750, Infratil up 1c at 237, Nuplex up 13c at 420, Ryman Healthcare up 7c at 209, Baycorp up 5c at 299, TrustPower up 15c at 545, and Wrightson up 1c at 150.

Among those on the slide were: Fletcher Building down 6c at 436, Hellaby down 5c at 490, Telstra down 7c at 540, Lion Nathan down 8c at 633, Ports of Auckland down 20c at 825, and The Warehouse down 14c at 560.

Overseas, the Dow Jones was up 44.00 points to 9626.46, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.29 points to 1033.20, while the FTSE 100 closed up 12.3 points at 4251.3.

- NZPA