NZ stocks: Sharemarket shows little reaction to budget

Today's budget appeared to have little effect on the sharemarket which ended on a mildly positive note as a gain by top stock Telecom and positive news from other companies lent some support to the benchmark index.

By the 5pm close the NZSX-50 gross index was 8.53 points or 0.33 per cent higher at 2587.60 while the NZSX all capital index was 3.59 points higher at 877.25.

Total turnover was light at $66.10 million and there were 49 rises and 51 falls among the 145 stocks traded.

ASB Securities head of advisory Stephen Wright said today's Budget had little impact on the market today, with the relatively subdued sentiment on global markets having more influence.

He said the local market had appeared to struggle somewhat all day, but lead stock Telecom which is approaching the record date for its dividend, "was always going to be a wee bit stronger". It finished today's session 4c higher at 559.

Yesterday the company was sold down on massive turnover, but Mr Wright said this was down to one big sale by a US investor.

Among the market's other top stocks, Auckland International Airport was up 6c to 666, Carter Holt Harvey was down a cent to 199, Contact Energy was up a cent to 563, Fletcher Building was up 3c to 440, Fisher & Paykel Appliances was down 5c to 450, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 3c to 1270, Promina was up 7c to 420 and the Warehouse was up a cent to 431.

Financial services group Tower was up 12c to 161 after posting a half year profit of $20.5 million, a remarkable turnaround from the horrendous $154.44 million loss for the same period last year.

Mr Wright said the result was further evidence the company was back on track. "In general the market knew that already but it's nice to see confirmation."

Casino operator Sky City was up again today, gaining 2c to 472. The company, which has inched higher in previous sessions, today received approval from the Overseas Investment Commission to bid for the 26 per cent of cinema operator Sky City Leisure it does not already own.

Elsewhere, most of today's action was further down the board.

Mooring Systems shares fell a cent to 364, despite the company posting a maiden full year surplus of $12,000 from a loss of $509,000 last year.

Turners Auctions shares reclaimed their all time high, rising 8c to 500.

New listing Teamtalk upgraded its full year profit forecast by more than $400,000 to $2.5 million. Its shares rose 8c to 215.

Other stocks to move included: BayCorp Advantage up 5c to 300, Colonial Motors up 4c to 292, Dorchester Pacific Group up 16c to 300, Guinness Peat Group down 2c to 195, Northland Port Corp up 7c to 275, Nuplex up 7c to 515, NZOG up 6c to 73, Ports of Auckland up 5c to 725, Port of Tauranga down 13c to 507, Sanford down 5c to 490, Sky TV up 5c to 530, Tenon down 2c to 191, TrustPower up 10c to 420.

- NZPA