NZ stocks: Market positive in quiet early trade

12.17pm

The New Zealand sharemarket's key indices jiggled in mildly positive territory in typically restrained Monday morning trade as it shrugged off the effects, positive or otherwise, of last week's terror attacks in Turkey.

By 11.30am the NZSX-50 gross index was 2.3 points or 0.1 per cent higher at 2329.89, while the NZSX-40 capital index was 1.95 points or 0.1 per cent higher at 2218.30. Turnover was $36.59 million.

"One could only say it looks like Christmas has come early... volumes are very light," Forsyth Barr Frater Williams broker David Price told NZPA.

"As you can see from the volumes it's very much a typical Monday, the index itself is hardly changed."

While sharemarkets around the world reacted quickly and negatively to the bomb attacks in Turkey on Thursday, some analysts said New Zealand shares could be largely immune. New Zealand has few companies involved in global businesses, and may in fact benefit as investors turn to New Zealand equities as a relatively safe haven, the analysts said.

Mr Price said those effects may have already been seen last week, shortly after the attacks were reported. "We were actually going against the trend. We were seeing the currency rising and the market rising, versus the US where it was falling and Asia was falling as well."

But overseas markets quickly recovered some of the losses they suffered on Thursday. In New York the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 11.96 points at 1893.88, while the broad Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 1.63 points to 1035.28. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.11 points to 9628.53.

In London, Britain's top shares notched up healthy gains with the FTSE 100 index closed up 11 points at 4319.0, recouping around half of Thursday's drop.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average closed down 12.87 points at 9852.83, following the previous session's 2.61 per cent jump off a three-month closing low of 9614 on Wednesday.

Mr Price said the New Zealand stocks exposed most to the negative effects of Thursday's attacks were Air NZ, Tourism Holdings Ltd and Auckland International Airport. Of these Air NZ was unchanged at 46c and Tourism Holdings was also unchanged at 145 this morning. Auckland International Airport was down 5c to 672, but Mr Price said this was not necessarily linked to the bombings.

"They have had a fairly strong run and we ourselves have trimmed our recommendation in the last few days on the basis that the stock was trading at our valuation."

Elsewhere, rest-home operator Ryman Healthcare was down 3c to 199 by 11.30am after announcing it had lifted its half-year net profit by 10.6 per cent to $8.44 million.

"A little surprising given that we actually thought it was actually a good quality result... We'll probably see it supported around current levels from here", Mr Price said.

Stocks to go ex-dividend today are: DB Breweries 20.5 cents per share, Infratil 5cps, Richmond 2.5 cps and National Property 2.25 cps.

Stocks to move in early trade included: Baycorp Advantage up 2c to 284, Fletcher Building up 4c to 409, Fisher and Paykel Appliances 4c to 374, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare up 10c to 1185, Hellaby Holdings up 2c to 455, Promina Group down 5c to 375, Steel and Tube Holdings down 5c to 370, Telecom up a cent to 505, and the Warehouse up 3c to 560.

By 11.30am, 31 stocks had risen and 32 fallen on 114 traded.

- NZPA