NZ stocks: Shares hold steady

12.15pm

The New Zealand sharemarket held steady this morning, as the market digests the increased flow of financial results

By 11.35am today the benchmark NZSX-50 gross index was up 2.47 points at 2749.96, while the NZSX-All capital index had risen 1.17 points to 928.10.

The market was buoyed by bellwether stock Telecom, which was up 3c to 598, on turnover worth $15.1 million.

Total market turnover in the time was worth $31.6 million.

Of the 120 stocks traded by 11.35am there were 36 rises and 21 falls.

Among the rises was gas company NGC Holdings up 1c to 296. NGC today posted a full year net profit of $84.5 million, down 43 per cent on the previous year, when a $78.9 million one-off gain from asset sales was booked. A fully imputed dividend of 10.5 cents per share will be paid on September 13.

Ports of Auckland (POAL) fell 11c to 699, after today reporting a net profit of $57.2 million for the year ended June, up from $47.6 million the previous year. A final dividend of 25.5 cents per share will be paid on September 21.

New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZOG) continued to rise, up 6c to 82, on the back of a 7c gain yesterday. Investors have embraced the stock following yesterday's announcement oil had been struck in the Pateke-2 exploration well northwest of the Maui gas field.

Steel & Tube Holdings fell 2c to 454, after rising 7c yesterday on the back of a $28.5 million net profit for the year to June.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances fell 6c to 435, following on from a 27c tumble yesterday after its chief executive warned the net profit for the current financial year was likely to be flat compared to last year, at around $80 million.

Other stocks on the move in early trading included: F&P Healthcare up 3c at 1330, Sanford up 7c at 452, Lion Nathan down 2c at 761, Contact Energy up 2c at 587, Fletcher Building down 4c at 531 and Toll NZ up 2c at 225.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 129.20 points to 9954.55, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 14.54 points at 1079.34 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 25.62 points to 1782.84.

- NZPA