NZ stocks: Sale of Telecom parcels boosts turnover in quiet session

The sale of two large bundles of Telecom shares on NZX today were the standout feature in what was a very quiet session, a broker said.

At 5pm, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 9.27 points at 2613.07, while the NZSX-All capital index was up 4.61 at 878.58.

Shares in market heavyweight Telecom closed up 9c at 561, having traded $70.5 million worth of the $150.1 million on NZX.

Greenslades broker Paul Valk said the market was quiet aside from two large bundles of Telecom shares -- 6.6 million in total, worth $37 million at the closing price -- changing hands.

Mr Valk said the share parcels were probably sold by offshore institutional investors.

In other news, Rural Portfolio Investements (RPI) said its 165c a share offer to acquire a 50.01 per cent standing in Wrightson would close on June 23.

RPI has increased its initial 13 per cent stake in the rural services firm to 25.7 per cent.

"Obviously a lot of the institutions will wait until near the end (of the offer period) to see what's happening," Mr Valk told NZPA today.

"Personally, I think it's a pretty good offer... the question is, if RPI don't get to their (desired) level what will the share price do?"

Wrightson shares closed down 1c at 151.

Meanwhile, Mr Valk said the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's decision to raise the official cash rate to 5.75 per cent on Thursday had been absorbed by the market.

"I think the response has been pretty muted," Mr Valk said, noting the market drifted lower yesterday.

Sky City Entertainment was up 3c at 470, after yesterday acquiring 95.75 per cent of Sky City Leisure, sparking a compulsory acquisition of the shares it did not currently own.

Sky City Leisure was unchanged at 76c.

Tenon was also down 4c at 193 after yesterday's board reshuffle which saw Rubicon and Guinness Peat Group director Tony Gibbs named as new chairman in place of incumbent Sir Dryden Spring.

Rubicon shares closed up 1c at 86.

Other stocks on the move included: Air NZ up 1c at 41, Baycorp Advantage down 7c at 317, DB Breweries up 6c at 806, Genesis Research down 7c at 75, Lion Nathan down 8c at 722, NZ Refining down 30c at 1905, Promina down 5c at 432, and TrustPower up 6c at 420.

There were 49 rises and 42 falls among the 145 stocks traded today.

Overseas, the Dow Jones ended up 41.66 points at 10,410.10, the Standard & Poor's 500 closed up 5.14 points at 1136.47, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 9.26 points at 1999.87.

- NZPA