NZ stocks: Market slackens in morning trade

The sharemarket rose very slightly on opening before dipping in morning trade today.

At 11.30am NZSX50 gross index was down 0.351 per cent, or 7.38 points, to 2096.9 while the NZSX40 capital index fell 0.28 per cent, or 5.7 points, to 2042.14.

On offshore markets overnight, United States stocks eased as Wall Street frowned on lacklustre earnings news from Ford Motor Co and others and worried about rising interest rates after the bond market's Tuesday sell-off.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average fell 34 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 9095. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 dropped six points, or 0.64 per cent, to 994, and the tech-laced Nasdaq Composite fell five points, or 0.30 per cent, to 1748.

Markets also eased in London and Tokyo.

Contributing to the New Zealand market's dip this morning were leading stocks Carter Holt Harvey and Telecom both of which were down 3c by 11.30am, Carter Holt Harvey to 160 and Telecom to 492.

ABN Amro Craigs equities retail adviser Bryon Burke said Carter Holt Harvey eased on the back of their result yesterday and news of potential write-offs.

Telecom eased this morning on light turnover. "With overseas markets a bit weaker there's probably a bit of overseas selling there," Mr Burke said.

Commentators have said the stock which is at its lowest levels for two months may be down as a result of the kiwi dollar's current rally.

"From overseas investors' point of view, they may have seen the New Zealand dollar appreciate substantially and the share price of Telecom go up as well in the last quarter.

So maybe they think that's come to an end in the short term and are now taking a bit of profit by selling out and taking the money elsewhere."

Auckland Airport was up 7c by 11.30am to 572. The stock shed 10c yesterday. Mr Burke said yesterday's drop was a result of Australia's Macquarie Airports selling down its placement in the company to reinvest elsewhere.

Macquarie Airports is reported to be increasing its stake in Sydney Airport.

Meanwhile Mr Burke said the rest of the market was pretty steady on light turnover, which was $25.26 million by 11.30am

Among stocks to rise by 11.30am were: Hallenstein Glassons up 2c to 290, Independent Newspapers up 4c to 419, and TelstraClear up 4c to 527.

Among stocks to fall were: Contact Energy down 5c to 459, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare down 10c to 1140, Fletcher Building down a cent to 371, Ports of Auckland down 2c to 761, Port of Tauranga down 11c to 412, Sky City down 3c to 885, Tranz Rail down a cent to 99, Trustpower down 5c to 490, and Waste Management down 2c to 348.

There were 25 rises and 24 falls among 92 stocks traded.

- NZPA