NZ stocks: Shares move higher on quiet trade

12.01pm


The New Zealand sharemarket bobbed higher on thin trade this morning following positive sessions on overseas markets on Friday.

By 11.30am the benchmark NZSX-50 gross index was 9.4 points or 0.39 per cent higher at 2403.86, while the NZSX-40 capital index was 8.06 points or 0.36 per cent higher at 2232.21. There were 40 rises and 29 falls on 109 stocks traded and turnover was a restrained $21.09 million.

Amro Craigs Equities' Bryon Burke told NZPA the market was fickle at the moment, "due to the light turnover as institutional investors don't take any positions either side and just protect their returns for the year."

"With them trying to sit on the sidelines you see prices going up and down on small volumes," he said.

Nevertheless the market's tone was generally positive he added.

Leading the market higher this morning was heavyweight Telecom which quickly gained 4c to 520, in a "catch-up on the US close" Mr Burke said.

Carter Holt Harvey and Contact Energy both added 2c to take them to 184 and 536 respectively.

Mr Burke said Contact's rise to its highest levels since going ex-dividend was on slim turnover.

Australasian financial services group AMP, newly demerged from its troublesome British subsidiary was on the way up, rising 6c to 555.

Fishing company Sanford and Steel & Tube Holdings were both up 2c at 510 and 375.

Mr Burke said Port of Tauranga and Ports of Auckland were in consolidation mode after news last week Port of Auckland had lost a big chunk of Fonterra business to Port of Tauranga.

By 11.30am, Ports of Auckland was 3c higher at 766 while Port of Tauranga was unchanged at 429.

Tranz Rail was 5c lower at 165. Australia's Toll Holding's six week extension to its takeover offer for Tranz Rail ends today with few further acceptances reported. Toll is reported to now have 84.2 per cent of the rail operator from 83.5 per cent previously.

Elsewhere, Carpet manufacturer Cavalier Corp was 3c lower at 542, Goldminer GRD was 9c lower at 226, Hallenstein Glasson was down 4c at 274, Independent Newspapers Ltd was 5c lower at 490, and Promina was up 4c at 377.

On Friday in New York, The blue-chip Dow ended up 30.14 points or 0.29 per cent at 10,278.22, its highest close since May 17, 2002. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index inched down just 0.52 of a point to 1088.66. The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index shed 5.16 points to 1951.02.

In London, the FTSE 100 rose 15 points to end at 4412.3, in Frankfurt, the DAX index ended at 3898.42 points, up 27.54 or 0.71 per cent, up 38.29 points from last Friday, and in Tokyo, the Nikkei ended up 1.79 per cent at 10,284.54.

- NZPA