NZ stocks: Sharemarket trading mixed during morning

12.30 pm

The New Zealand sharemarket opened lower today amid quiet trading and in line with more poor performances on world sharemarkets overnight.

Most of the major markets - excluding Tokyo and Sydney - closed with double or three-figure losses after being battered by more profit warnings from leading United States companies.

"It was very quiet at the opening here," Peter Stokes, senior investment adviser at J B Were said.

Take away Telstra and Telecom and it was difficult to say anything about the market.

"I have the feeling it's simply chugging slowly into the weekend," he said.

The market was mixed in later trading and at 11am the NZSE-40 index stood at 2061.06 - down 4.81 points - or 0.23 per cent - and down from the opening 2062.97.

The NZSE-SCI capital index, however, was 5.46 points - or 0.10 per cent - higher, at 5458.03 and up from the opening 5456.42.

Turnover at 11am was 11.79 million shares, worth $33.66 million and of the 107 traded, 21 rose but 37 fell.

Market heavyweight Telecom - which has a 23 per cent weighting in the Top 40 index - was a cent higher at 550 on turnover of 1.52 million shares, worth $8.31 million.

Telstra was topping turnover - by value - with 1.52 million shares worth $11.12 million but it was 4c lower at 726.

Fisher and Paykel was unchanged at 1145, Air NZ's domestic A shares were 3c higher at 113 and the freely held B shares gained 5c to 147.

Air New Zealand and Qantas Airways are staying tight-lipped after a meeting yesterday in Sydney.

Qantas had been expected to present more details of its planned buy-in of Air NZ to that airline's independent directors but spokesmen for the two airlines said last night that they did not intend to discuss the nature of their negotiations before Air NZ's board meeting on Monday.

Brierley Investments was a cent higher at 62 and p ower company, Natural Gas Corp, lost a couple of cents to 102 on turnover of 328,018 shares.

Fletcher Challenge spin-off, Rubicon, was a cent higher at 64.

Fletcher Building was steady at 234, Fletcher Forests preference shares were topping turnover - by volume - with 3.70 million shares worth $1.11 million and were a cent lower at 30, to match the company's main shares already at that price.

Meat exporter Richmond rose 5c to 245 but on light volume and Auckland International Airport lost a couple of cents to 373.

Lion Nathan was 2c lighter at 520 and Montana Group was 3c lower at 480,

Lion Nathan wants the Stock Exchange's market surveillance panel to decide its penalty for being a Montana securities defaulter.

The panel was expected to announce its response to Lion's request either today or on Monday, after gathering opinions from the key parties in the five-month debacle.

We are still awaiting news on this development that was expected a couple of days ago but had not happened, Mr Stokes said.

Pay TV operator Sky TV was a cent lower at 343 and part owner, Independent Newspapers was unchanged at 366.

INL is to buy back up to 10 million of its shares in the coming six months, after approving a share swap that lifts INL's holding in Sky to slightly more than 66 per cent.

INL also forecast that Sky would turn a profit within three years, although INL managing director, Tom Mockridge, said the forecast was "conservative".

Infratil was a cent lower at 141 and wood-products firm Carter Holt Harvey dropped 3c to 181.

The Warehouse gained 5c to 580, Contact Energy dropped a cent to 295, Trans Tasman Properties was steady at 23, as was Waste Management at 390.

Among others, drinks company Frucor lost a cent to 163, casino operator, Sky City shed 5c to 1040, financial-services company Tower was unchanged at 530, AMP rose 9c to 2650 and Baycorp was 11c weaker at 1223.

Stocks fell on Wall Street on Thursday when the prospect of a failed merger between heavyweights, General Electric and Honeywell International rattled investors who were already on edge over corporate profit warnings.

The blue-chip Dow Jones average index of 30 industrials dropped 181.49 points - or 1.67 per cent - to 10,690.13, the broader, Standard and Poor's 500 composite index shed 21.73 points - or 1.75 per cent - to 1219.87 and the tech-rich Nasdaq composite index dropped 77.59 points - or 3.66 per cent - to 2044.07.

- NZPA