NZ stocks: Market subdued as stocks consolidate gains

12.00pm

Trading on the sharemarket this morning was subdued as stocks consolidated strong gains from yesterday, a broker said.

At 11.30am the benchmark NZSX-50 gross index was down 3.55 points at 2163.60, with $32.2 million of shares traded on volume of 10.2 million.

Market leader Telecom was down 1c to 519, after leading trading this morning at $11.6 million on turnover of 2.2 million.

Forsyth Barr broker David Price said the market was a bit subdued today.

"Some of these stocks have had a fairly good run and I think you'll see the market pull back a bit over the next few days and probably consolidate a lower levels," he told NZPA.

"It won't pull back a long way," he added.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 1c to 1145 after going ex-dividend 40c per share on Monday.

F&P Appliances fell 35c to 1310 today, after yesterday gaining a whopping 70c to finish at a fresh high of 1345.

The Dow Jones industrial average ticked up 4.06 points to finish at 9323.02, its highest close in about 11 months. The broader S&P 500 gained 0.94 point to 1011.68, and the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.86 points to 1668.44, its highest finish since late May 2002.

On the NZX today, there were 34 rises and 32 falls in the 107 stocks traded so far.

Fletcher Challenge Forests (FCF) was up 1c to 113 after it put its entire 106,000ha forest estate up for sale on Monday. Shares in Rubicon, a 19.9 per cent FCF stakeholder, were unchanged on 72c.

Among other rises today were, F&C Emerging Market up 45c to 1050, Michael Hill International up 3c to 453, NGC Holdings up 8c to 165, Sanford up 6c to 517, SkyCity up 2c to 907, the Warehouse up 8c to 500, and New Zealand Refining up 10c to 1660.

On the down side, Tower down 1c to 157, Auckland International Airport slipped 3c to 584, Carter Holt Harvey dropped 3c to 169, Contact Energy fell 3c to 488, AMP lost 6c to 596, and Westpac down 16c to 1770.

- NZPA