NZ stocks: NZ sharemarket firms as Telecom fears subside

12.00 pm

The New Zealand sharemarket firmed this morning as the "Enronitis" surrounding top stock Telecom subsided.

The benchmark NZSE-40 rose 8.35 to 2077.20 by 12.25am, on turnover worth just $20 million.

ASB Securities broker Andrew Kelleher said the market was very quiet.

Telecom initially slipped a further 2c to 510 in early trade but recovered to be up 2c to 514. Turnover in the stock was very light at just over 375,000 shares worth $1.9 million.

Brokers said the rise was a sign fears raised by a Securities Commission investigation into Telecom's accounting of the sale of spare capacity on some of its cables had been assuaged.

"There were some concerns out there (about Telecom's accounting) but I think those have been overplayed," Mr Kelleher said.

"The Enronitis, this concern on accounting, is better applied to other companies than Telecom."

Among the other leading stocks, Fisher & Paykel continued its yo-yo trading of late with the Healthcare stock down 20c at 1080 and Appliances down 11c at 928.

The Warehouse was up 8c at 656, Baycorp Advantage fell 2c to 642 and Contact Energy gained a cent to 388.

Tranz Rail fell 5c to 385 after yesterday lifting 30c after Canadian National Rail said it had sold its 24 per cent stake in the rail operator.

The sale cleared the air for Tranz Rail, which is now seen as a more attractive stock because of greater liquidity.

On the upside, Auckland Airport added 2c to 386 and Fletcher Building rose 5c to 300. Fletcher Forests preference shares were a cent higher at 26c.

Natural Gas Corp rose 2c to 131 after yesterday posting a $16.1 million net profit for the six months to December 31. NGC lost $302 million in the June 2001 year. The December half was only a little over half the $31 million profit recorded in the same period a year earlier, but bettered average expectations for a $3 million net profit.

Port of Tauranga fell 5c to 745 after its half year result while Nuplex was up 3c to 338 after its half year result.

Rises outnumbered falls by 33 to 28 among the 101 stocks traded so far.

In the US technology stocks slumped on Thursday, pushing the tech-packed Nasdaq down more than 2 per cent, as concerns over the earnings outlooks for high-tech heavyweights like chip maker Intel Corp tempered enthusiasm over an uptick in manufacturing activity.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average lost 55 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 9885, reversing earlier gains that had pushed it above the key 10,000 mark for the first time in a week.

The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 47 points, or 2.67 per cent, to 1728, on track to close lower for the fourth session in five. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 12 points, or 1.14 per cent, to 1085.

- NZPA