NZ stocks: Shares consolidate after stellar run

New Zealand shares eased off the gas pedal this morning, consolidating after a recent strong run.

The benchmark NZSE-40 capital index was 3.64 points lower at 2011.62 by 11.30am. Moderate turnover of $29 million was dominated by top stock Telecom at $14 million.

The telco, which with its hefty 22 per cent weighting acts as a barometer for the index, was off 2c at 468.

This week's big mover Fletcher Forests plateued, with the head shares losing a cent to 117, while the preference shares were flat at 116.

The company is being scrutinised by both the Stock Exchange and Securities Commission on suspicion of insider trading after the shares spiked dramatically ahead the announcement of a big cutting rights deal and $140 million capital repayment yesterday.

Forests chief executive Terry McFadgen said today eyebrows had been raised at the company after the shares climbed almost 9 per cent on Tuesday, but he had seen no evidence that the deal had been leaked.

Vending Technologies Ltd recovered 15c to 125 after plumbing to an all time low yesterday on warnings its full year profit will be lower than the previous year.

In other moves, Carter Holt Harvey eased 2c to 187; Baycorp Advantage was up 4c at 227; Auckland Airport lost a cent to 545; Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was 6c higher at 967; Guinness Peat Group lost a cent to 151; and The Warehouse added 2c to 740.

Rises outnumbered falls by 27 to 21 among the 92 stocks traded so far.

In the United States stocks sagged in late afternoon trading on Wednesday after tepid forecasts on capital spending and revenues from technology bellwether Intel Corp disappointed investors looking for signs that corporate America's ailing health is set to improve.

The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite was down 18 points, or 1.24 per cent, at 1443. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average dropped 106 points, or 1.20 per cent, to 8737, and the broad Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 12 points, or 1.26 per cent, to 920.


The latest economic reports also offered investors little hope for a quick rebound in lackluster US growth.

Weakness in a key inflation gauge spurred concerns a lack of pricing power could hinder any rebound in corporate profits, and the Federal Reserve's closely watched "Beige Book" report suggested that the US economy's sluggishness extended into early January.

- NZPA