NZ stocks: Market finishes on the up after a mixed day's trading

Despite a lacklustre day on the sharemarket today, both major indices climbed into greener pastures towards the session's end, a broker said today.

The benchmark NZSX-50 capital index was up 1.57 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 2159.41, while the NZSX-40 gross index was up 0.17 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 2089.80.

Market leader Telecom finished up 1c at 514, having traded $13.2 million worth on volume of 2.6 million shares.

On NZX today, there was $43.4 million worth of shares traded on volume of 16.7 million. Among the 140 stocks traded were 50 rises and 55 falls.

ASB Securities broker Andrew Kelleher said it was "a very quiet Monday" with the stand-out performer being The Warehouse.

The Stephen Tindall-led retail chain finished up 11c at 472, a kickback against its generally tumbling share price since June 20.

Mr Kelleher said The Warehouse's rise over the past week was encouraging and possibly driven by the market taking more confidence after Mr Tindall's return to the helm and more corporate news.

"There was no news there for a while," Mr Kelleher told NZPA today.

On July 31, The Warehouse's shares closed at 450. Today it traded $569,728 worth on turnover of 121,235 shares.

Meanwhile, Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) slipped 3c to 162 on the back of a 3c dividend. CHH traded $1.6 million on volume of 954,720 shares.

Tower shares were up 2c to 132, having traded $3 million worth on volume of 2.3 million shares, while its rights issue underwriter Guinness Peat Group (GPG) finished down 1c at 156.

GPG is in dispute with regulators over how much it can increase its holding as a result of the underwriting.

The direction for the local market from the United States on Friday was negative.

Stocks fell after reports showed US companies were still slashing jobs and the manufacturing sector had not picked up as much as some investors had anticipated, casting doubt on the economic recovery.

The US unemployment rate fell for the first time in a year in July, but companies slashed workers from their payrolls for a sixth straight month, the government reported.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 79.83 points to 9153.97. while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 10.16 points to 980.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 19.43 points to 1715.59.

Back on the NZX, stocks on the rise included: Briscoe Group up 1c to 187, Fisher & Paykel Appliances up 11c to 1346, Sanford up 9c to 499, Steel & Tube up 5c to 370, TrustPower up 5c to 480, and Air New Zealand up 1c to 50.

Stocks on the slide included: AMP down 5c to 543, Guinness Peat Group down 1c to 156, Lion Nathan down 10c to 600, ANZ Bank down 15c to 2020, Fletcher Building down 2c to 397, Hellaby down 3c to 446, Michael Hill down 3c to 422, Sky City down 10c to 910, and Tranz Rail down 1c to 101.

- NZPA