NZ stocks: NZSE-40 holds steady above 2000

12.00 pm

The New Zealand sharemarket was quiet and flat this morning after surpassing the NZSE-40 2000 mark yesterday.

Institutional dealer Paul Nicolson of UBS Warburg said the market "had a bit of a hangover -- it's very very quiet".

At 11am the NZSE-40 capital index was at 2010.13, up 1.46 from yesterday's closing on a turnover of $28,531,734.16.

Mr Nicolson said there was "a reasonably chunky index buy order in our market late yesterday which caught the market bit unawares and took Telecom up to close at recent highs".

Telecom stocks were down 1c on 472 this morning and were showing a volume of just over a million which was all related to trades done yesterday or trades done in Australia, Mr Nicolson said.

Over 12 million Affco shares with a value of $3.5 million were traded this morning. Mr Nicolson attributed this to a share placement which sees fisheries company Talley's Group take an 11.3 per cent stake in the company. Affco shares were down 2c at 29c.

Discount retailer The Warehouse Group Ltd today said sales in the first quarter rose 9 per cent to $385.1 million on a year ago after taking a dip following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Warehouse shares were down 10c this morning on 670.

INL which closed 4c down yesterday had charged up 15c to 375 this morning. The company said yesterday at its annual meeting that advertising revenues were holding firm. Sky TV was up 5c this morning at 370.

Natural Gas Holdings were back up to 127 after falling 2c to 125 early this morning. Yesterday the Government announced a possible shake up of the gas transmission industry.

Hawke's Bay meat processor Richmond Ltd, the subject of a bitter takeover battle this year, today reported a 77 per cent lift in its September year net profit to $20.65 million.

It declared a 5cps dividend and was down 8c at 272 shortly after the announcement.

Other rises and falls this morning included Air NZ B shares down 1c to 28, Auckland International Airport down 5c to 365, Contact down 6c to 411, Fletcher Forests down 1c to 27, Ports of Auckland up 6c to 566, Sky City up 7c to 1272 and Telstra up 5c to 600.

There were 28 rises and 26 falls on the 108 stocks traded.

Meanwhile on the US markets, the Dow Jones index closed up 149 points at 9590 after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the 10th time this year down half a percentage point to 2.0 per cent.

The Nasdaq closed up 2.3 per cent at 1835. US investors took heart from hints by the Fed that it might cut interest rates yet again to help put the US economy back on track.

- NZPA