NZ stocks: Market up on good volume

The New Zealand sharemarket was buoyant today with healthy turnover perking up the leaders.

The NZSE-40 capital index closed up 9.89 points, or 0.50 per cent, at 1989.18, while the top-10 index rose 0.54 per cent to 894.94.

Turnover was healthy, with 29.80 million stocks worth $92.06 million changing hands.

ABN Amro retail equities advisor Nigel Scott said several of the leading stocks had continued a steady appreciation.

" ... The favourites continue to be supported. We do know there's a bit of range trading but certainly in Auckland Airport (up 11c at 434), Sky City Casino (up 12c at 746) and continued buy-side activity in Telecom (up 7c at 502), (it) has well and truly supported those three major stocks," Mr Scott said.

"There are also patches of other activity but in real terms that's where the market's at currently - people are happy to continue on in the positive vein in stocks they are very comfortable with."

Air New Zealand shares were up 3c at 52 after fresh speculation on Australian rival Qantas' plans to take a stake in the largely government-owned airline.

The West Australian newspaper today said the airlines would announce Qantas would take a 20-25 per cent stake at a meeting on October 29.

It said unnamed airline sources in Auckland had confirmed the airlines had held talks with competition regulators on procedures to be followed once the deal was approved at board level.

Retailer Briscoe Group was up 10c at 245, The Warehouse gained 5c to 717, Fletcher Building was up 2c at 291, and AMP rose 20c to 1300.

Turners Auctions was up 11c at 230, appearing to find its feet after a rollercoaster ride since launching on Friday.

On the down side, debt collector Baycorp Advantage continued to come under pressure, dropping 9c today to 308, and publishers Independent Newspapers Ltd fell 9c to 300.

"That's an awful long way from their buyback at 470-480 ... I think people are still marking in the fact there may be a sell-down in shares and are prepared to be very patient," Mr Scott said.

In November, INL completed its buyback of 9.7 million of its own shares, amounting to 2.28 per cent of shares on issue, at a cost of $36 million.

INL's 66 per cent-owned pay TV asset Sky TV was down 3c at 330.

Contact Energy was down 5c at 382, Ports of Auckland fell 10c to 600, and Restaurant Brands continued its falls from recent weeks to sink a further 8c to 158.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances was down 5c at 970 and Healthcare lost 15c to 970.

Eldercare was down 1c at 22c after it announced it had bought Australasian dental company Geddes for an undisclosed sum.

Six stocks saw volumes of more than one million today, with Telecom topping turnover at 8.91 million stocks worth $44.60 million.

The firm New Zealand dollar also boosted the local market's confidence.

In offshore markets, Tokyo's Nikkei average fell through 8500 for the first time in 19 years, and European blue-ship shares closed at their weakest levels in 5-1/2 years.

However, Wall St returned to the black after a recent losing streak, with the Dow Jones industrial average up 78.65 points, or 1.06 per cent, at 7501.49; the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbing 13.27 points, or 1.69 per cent, to 798.55; and the Nasdaq Composite Index adding 9.82 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 1129.22.

- NZPA