NZ stocks: Telecom, Carter lead gains

The sharemarket closed higher yesterday, led by gains in market leaders Telecom, Carter Holt and Fisher & Paykel.

The NZSE-40 index closed up 1.69 points at 1983.72 on healthy volume for a Monday of $81.89 million, while the top 10 index closed up 3.95 points at 880.19.

"It was leader-driven as far as the upside was concerned on moderate volume," said ABN Amro head of institutional sales Nigel Scott.

Telecom closed up 9c at $5.27 on turnover of 3 million shares worth $15.57 million.

Mr Scott said the stock was boosted by institutional orders rather than retail buyers, with tensions surrounding its Australian and local expansion strategies keeping punters away.

"Telecom is still order driven more than anything else. It is not really sentiment driven," Mr Scott said.

Healthcare and whiteware manufacturer Fisher & Paykel, led by chief executive Gary Paykel, and wood products firm Carter Holt Harvey also added to the market's upward movement. Fisher and Paykel closed up 14c at $8.65, while Carter Holt rose 3c to $1.75.

The major loser of the day was Waste Management, which shed a massive 47c to $4.40 - its lowest level since January 30. The company announced late yesterday that it had been unsuccessful in its bid for the Auckland City refuse collection and disposal contract.

Mr Scott said the market's expectation that Waste Management would win the contract had seen the company's share price ride up in recent weeks.

Fletcher Energy dropped 15c to $8.80 despite continuing rumours of a last-ditch attempt by Greymouth Petroleum to top the Shell/Apache bid.

"People are obviously taking a bit of profit ahead of the vote [March 6 shareholder vote on the separation of Fletcher Challenge Group] and the result [interim group result, tomorrow]," Mr Scott said.0

Advantage rose 3c to $1.58 in early trade amid speculation that international buyers are set to make a bid for the technology company, but closed down 2c at $1.53.

Advantage has a market capitalisation of $100 million and its share price has been on a roller-coaster in the past few years.

Its shares rose from less than 20c in 1998 to over $5.65 in April last year and subsided to $1.08 in January.

Beverage company Frucor fell 3c to $1.85 early in the session after announcing it had lifted its first half net profit to $6.4 million from $4.6 million but failed to meet its prospectus forecast. The stock later recovered to close steady at $1.88.

Affco fell 2c to 40c after its chief executive Ross Townshend resigned his $870,000-a-year job at the giant meat company.

Michael Hill International fell 20c to $3.50 following its result last week.

Sky TV closed up 6c at $3.66. There was heavy trade in Sky on Friday and continued speculation about what Telecom was up to with its 12.12 per cent stake.

Air New Zealand Bs were down 4c at $1.82.

- NZPA