NZ stocks: Telecom leads market to record high

1.00pm

The sharemarket moved to a record high in morning trade today, buoyed by Telecom, which rose on news it will build and commission a high speed 3G mobile network before the end of the year.

By 12.30pm the NZSX-50 gross index had risen 10.62 points to 2666.88, while the NZSX all capital index was 3.9 points higher at 893.75.

Telecom, which carries a 26 per cent weighting in the top 50, was up 8c at 582, its highest level since late March.

The company said it will spend $40 million to build a third generation (3G) mobile phone network that will run data fast enough to be able to send television pictures down a handset.

The network would deliver "super-fast 3G" mobile services to New Zealanders before Christmas 2004.

Telecom claims the new network will operate six times faster than the new Nokia-equipped network British rival Vodafone announced in May it would build in Australia and New Zealand. Vodafone has 55 per cent of the mobile market here.

Contact Energy fell 5c to 586 as investors locked in profits from the stock's gains in the run-up to the close of bids for Edison Mission's half stake in the company.

Wrightson was up 5c to 158. Yesterday after the market closed, Rural Portfolio Investments announced it had gained acceptances in excess of its target of 50.01 per cent of Wrightson shares for its $1.65 a share partial takeover offer.

The offer closes today. This morning Wrightson ran up the white flag, announcing a 9.5c special dividend to make use of $10 million in tax imputation credits.

Those credits will be wiped if the Wrightson board does not declare the dividend before control changes.

Elsewhere among top stocks: Carter Holt was 2c higher at 206, Fletcher Building was up a cent to 451, Fisher & Paykel Appliances down a cent to 450, Sky City up 3c to 468, Sky TV down 2c to 515, and The Warehouse down 2c to 427.

Infratil was 4c higher at 305. This morning it was reported the company's plans for a commercial airport at the Whenuapai Airbase had received a boost from a research document.

Auckland International Airport, which opposes the Whenuapai plan, was down 2c to 654.

Other stocks to move in morning trade included: Cavalier Corp down 5c to 475, Hallenstein Glasson down 5c to 295, Port of Tauranga down 3c to 512, Promina up 2c to 450 and Waste Management up a cent to 461.

Total turnover by late morning was worth $44.99 million and there were 32 rises and 30 falls among 114 stocks traded.

- NZPA