NZ stocks: Shares trade higher

12pm

The New Zealand sharemarket traded higher this morning after its offshore counterparts snapped a run of losses overnight.

The NZ50 gross index was up 7.1 points at 1931.88 by just after midday, while the NZSE-40 capital index was up 6.5 points at 1897.99.

Morning turnover was worth a slim $26 million.

"It was a little bit more positive this morning, following on from overseas markets which were up overnight," JB Were broker Gareth Stythe said.

In the United States stocks rose on Tuesday as investors looked past unexpectedly weak manufacturing data and bet the war in Iraq may have taken a turn for the better for US-led forces.

Upbeat news from American Airlines, which narrowly avoided bankruptcy, and other corporations helped lift the market.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 77.73 points at 8069.86. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended up 10.30 points at 858.48, while the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was up 7.13 points at 1348.30.

Investors took heart after a call from Saddam Hussein for Iraqis to fight a jihad (holy war) against US-led invaders was read out on state television by Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, renewing speculation that the Iraqi president may not have survived bombing raids.

Britain's FTSE 100 index broke a three-session losing streak to close 71.5 points or two per cent higher at 3684.8, scoring its first close in positive territory since last Wednesday.

Here, Telecom -- which with its 28 per cent weighting in the NZ50 and 21 per cent NZSE-40 weighting acts as a market bellwether -- was up 6c at 456.

The rise follows media reports that Telecom is expected to boost its dividend payout by at least 10 per cent in the next 18 months as it cuts debt to satisfy credit agencies' expectations and runs out of expensive investment ideas.

"That may be causing some interest in Telecom this morning," Mr Stythe said.

Among the other leaders Auckland International Airport eased 6c to 513, Carter Holt Harvey dipped 2c to 175, Fletcher Building recovered 2c to 335, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare lost 5c to 920, its Appliances cousin was 7c higher at 940, Baycorp Advantage added 4c to 140, Sky City lost 5c to 784, Powerco added a cent to 143, The Warehouse slipped 5c to 552 and Tranz Rail eased a cent to 94c.

Rises outnumbered falls by 27 to 20 among the 83 stocks traded so far.

- NZPA