NZ stocks: Top-40 kicks off in negative territory, little interest

12.00pm

The New Zealand sharemarket began the week in negative territory with very little news to spark any action.

By mid-morning the NZSE-40 capital index was down 3.84 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 2074.64 while the top-10 index was down 4.25 points at 920.24.

Mid-morning turnover was minimal -- 12.15 million stocks valued at $16.99 million, led by Fletcher Forest's preference shares (3.44 million stocks) and Telecom (1.22 million).

Greg Arnott of DF Mainland said the market had a typically quiet start after four days on holiday.

Among the blue-chip stocks to fall were Telecom (down 2c at 485), The Warehouse (down 5c at 725), Contact Energy (down 2c at 387), Auckland Airport (down 1c at 437), Fisher & Paykel Appliances (down 4c at 925), and Carter Holt Harvey (down 1c at 193) -- all on light turnover.

"Fletcher Forests are a little bit perkier on last week's news, and that's followed through to (main shareholder) Rubicon," Mr Arnott said.

On Thursday Fletcher Forests confirmed it had entered into an agreement with the receivers of the failed Central North Island Forest Partnership (CNI).

Fletcher Forests rose 1c to 27 this morning, and Rubicon was up 3c at 67.

Tranz Rail lost 8c to 407 after announcing yesterday it was searching for more New Zealanders to add to its board of directors, in a bid to reflect its reshaped shareholder base.

The company is now 66 per cent owned by New Zealand-based investors and institutions, with a further 16 per cent of the shares held in Australia.

The New Zealand dollar tested seven-month highs over the Easter weekend, trading around US44.20c -- a level not seen since August last year -- this morning.

"It should have an impact on currency-related stocks -- Sky Network TV and Independent Newspapers Ltd, it traditionally has an impact on how those stocks perform," he said.

Sky TV was down 4c at 455 but on extremely light turnover of 600 shares, while INL was unchanged at 405.

Baycorp Advantage lost 4c to 590, Software of Excellence shed 15c to 275, and Nuplex was down 10c at 320.

Briscoe Group, which has been at record highs since March 21, gained a further 10c to 207, fellow retailer Hallenstein Glassons was up 6c at 291, meat exporter Richmond was up 6c at 221 and Telstra gained 4c to 645.

There were 33 rises and 28 falls on the 104 stocks traded.

On Wall Street, which was open on Easter Monday, the tech-laced Nasdaq Composite Index rose 17.27 points, or 0.94 per cent, to 1862.62; the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.85 of a point, or 0.07 per cent, to 1146.54; and the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average fell 41.24 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 10,362.70.

- NZPA