NZ stocks: Sharemarket continues retreat from recent highs

12.15pm

The benchmark sharemarket index continued to soften in early trading today, retreating from a string of recent highs.

By 11.35am the benchmark NZSX-50 gross index was down 6.14 points at 2850.66, while the NZSX-All capital index was down 0.75 to 949.03.

Total market turnover in the time was worth $38.87 million, of which bellwether stock Telecom accounted for $10.4 million.

Telecom was down 1c at 597, ahead of its annual general meeting this afternoon.

ABN Amro Craigs broker Bryon Burke said while top tier stocks such as Telecom, Sky City Entertainment, Contact Energy and The Warehouse were softer, second-line stocks were performing strongly.

Sky City Entertainment was down 6c at 450, Contact was down 2c at 606 and The Warehouse had fallen 2c to 418.

By contrast mid-cap stocks performed well. Port of Tauranga was up 5c at 580, following media coverage suggesting it could become the nation's largest container terminal if a review of Fonterra's freight logistics is favourable. Infratil, which is a shareholder in the port was up 1c at 320.

Interest remained strong in Powerco this morning, with the stock rising 1c to 212, on turnover worth $3.4 million. A fresh query by the Takeovers Panel on Tuesday night about Prime Infrastructure's $2.15 per share takeover offer for Powerco has not dented confidence among the main players that the deal will proceed. The panel is meeting next week to determine whether the Takeovers Code has been breached.

Air New Zealand was down 2c at 164. Singapore Airlines yesterday said it had sold its 6.3 per cent stake, or 37.83 million shares, in Air New Zealand for around $61.7 million, or $1.63 per share.

Children's clothing retailer Pumpkin Patch was up 2c to 222. The stock, which joined the Top 50 index last week, hit an intraday record high of 225 yesterday.

Restaurant Brands rose 7c to 133 after this morning announcing a 27.5 per cent rise in net profit after tax (npat) for the September half year, to $5.4 million compared with $4.3 million for the same period last year.

Meanwhile, investment firm Pure New Zealand was placed in a trading halt today, after missing an NZX deadline to file its annual report. The company was also briefly suspended in September after it failed to meet a deadline to post its financial results. The stock last traded at 0.25c.

Australasian Property Holdings was also placed in a trading halt this morning for failing to file its annual report. APH last traded at 6.5c.

Of the 124 stocks traded by 11.35am today there were 35 rises and 33 falls.

- NZPA