NZ stocks: Telecom, Carter rebound

Telecom and Carter Holt Harvey were again the main drivers of the sharemarket yesterday as the two heavyweights recouped the bulk of the previous session's losses.

Trading remained lacklustre, although total market turnover of $71.1 million exceeded Monday's light turnover of $57.1 million.

The NZSE-40 Capital Index closed up 7 points or 0.3 per cent at 2080.13. It dropped 9 points in the previous session.

Credit Suisse First Boston broker Phil Hardie-Boys said a stronger performance by overseas sharemarkets had helped lift the local bourse.

"But what you tend to see on days like this when overseas markets are strong, Asian markets have been quite strong, money and attention tends to go over to the Asian markets," he said.

Telecom gained 7c or 1.4 per cent to $5.05 in a move described by brokers as a technical rebound from Monday's 7c sell-off.

The stock also led the turnover table by volume and value with $23.5 million worth of shares changing hands.

Carter Holt Harvey rose 3c to $1.96 and is up 2.1 per cent for the year, coinciding with a general shift into cyclical stocks.

ABN Amro last week downgraded Carter Holt to "hold" from "add" saying some investors might want to take profits now and re-enter when the share slipped below $1.80.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare closed 15c down at $10.30 after earlier touching $10.25 - its lowest since listing in November after the split of parent Fisher & Paykel Industries.

F&P Healthcare fell out of favour with the market after reporting a reduced third quarter pre-tax operating profit last month.

Credit services company Baycorp Advantage rose 7c to $6.62 before today's interim profit announcement - the first result since the merger between Baycorp Holdings and Australia's Data Advantage last year.

Fast food franchise operator Restaurant Brands was up 4c at $2 after reporting a 9.6 per cent rise in sales for the 12 weeks to the end of February. The sales total was $63.2 million.

Investment company Guinness Peat Group rose 2c to $1.79 after earlier touching its year-high of $1.80.

Air New Zealand was unchanged at 34c as investors brace for more Ansett skeletons to emerge in tomorrow's result.

Wellington Drive Technologies slipped 5c to 26c after posting a bigger-than-expected half year loss of $1.27 million.