NZ stocks: Telecom gains boost market

12.00 pm

The New Zealand share market was positive today with market leader Telecom bouncing up and Carter Holt Harvey at near two-year highs.

By mid-morning the NZSE-40 capital index was up 10.66 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 2096.72, on turnover of 10.73 million stocks valued at $26.60 million.

Topping that turnover was Telecom with 1.70 million stocks, worth $8.50 million.

JB Were investment adviser Paul Savory said the market was firm again today after a good start to the week, and was taking its lead from strong performances in the US.

BIL International, formerly Brierley Investments, has made large gains in the last few days, striding up a further 2c to 55 today after a 20 per cent rise yesterday (9c).

Yesterday's rise prompted a "please explain" from the Singapore Exchange where the company has its primary listing, but the company has been unable to produce a definitive reason for the price rise.

Mr Savory said the local rises reflected gains in Singapore, which were in turn based on rumours about BIL's largest asset, Britain's Thistle Hotels, which has underperformed for some time.

Thistle shares have risen to 140 pence from 81 pence in October.

"Thistle has risen over the last couple of weeks and hasn't changed much in the last three or four days' trading. The market believes that Brierley may be able to exit Thistle as it looks to securitise the Thistle assets.

"We've seen the share price close in Singapore at the equivalent of 57 (New Zealand) cents, so we're just playing catch up," Mr Savory said.

Telecom was up 7c at 507 after going ex-dividend yesterday, and The Warehouse was up 11c at 677 after its record interim profit yesterday of $59.1 million for the half-year to January, up 13.8 per cent on the same period last year.

Forest products company Carter Holt Harvey gained 4c to 203, its highest since a price spike in April 2000.

"(Carter Holt)'s looking very strong. I'd say it's probably offshore buying, and it's being bid up pre-a global recovery," Mr Savory said.

Also outperforming the market were the large port companies, with Ports of Auckland up 1c at 610, Northland Port unchanged at 279, and Ports of Tauranga up 7c at 785, all at record highs. Southland Port was also at its highest level (unchanged at 164) and Lyttleton Port was near record levels, up 8c at 188.

Elsewhere on the market, Air New Zealand was down 1c at 32, Contact Energy lost 3c to 397 after its annual meeting yesterday, Restaurant Brands lost 1c to 196, and Tranz Rail lost 4c to 396.

On the up side, Baycorp Advantage was up 8c at 650, Fisher & Paykel Appliances gained 9c to 940, Fletcher Building was up 2c at 301, casino company Sky City was up 2c at 602, Software of Excellence gained 5c to 320, and Telstra was up 2c at 685.

There were 30 rises and 19 falls on the 104 stocks traded.

On Wall Street on Monday, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average rose 38.75 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 10,611.24, its highest close since late June; the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index slipped 0.18 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 1929.49; and the broad Standard & Poor's 500 rose 3.95 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 1168.26.

- NZPA