NZ stocks: Top three stocks pull down market

A rise in Australian interest rates yesterday undercut the No 2 and 3 New Zealand stocks today, while the strong New Zealand dollar pinched market leader Telecom.

The benchmark NZSX-50 gross index closed down 11.82 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 2309.78 while the top-40 index was down 0.50 per cent at 2209.44.

Turnover was topped by Telecom, which lost 3c to 487 on $39.3 million shares.

Alan Wills of Forsyth Barr Frater Williams said key stocks on the New Zealand market were being sold off following the surprise interest rate rise to 5.00 per cent in Australia yesterday.

The main stocks to suffer were Fletcher Building, down 15c at 415, and Carter Holt Harvey, down 3c at 183. Both have heavy exposure to the Australian market.

There were $6.1 million worth of Carter Holt shares and $5.9 million Fletcher Building shares traded today.

"The Warehouse was initially down earlier on and managed to finish square for the day (at 570), but there's a little bit of pressure on that one as well because of their sales exposure into Australia," Mr Wills said.

"At the same time Telecom continues to remain under pressure.

"It's just really being held hostage to the higher currency. While the (New Zealand) currency's so strong, some of the investors who have been using Telecom as a currency proxy are selling Telecom and taking advantage of the higher New Zealand dollar."

The sell-down was nothing to do with Telecom's higher than expected $162 million profit yesterday for the September quarter.

Sky City fell 4c to 891, Sky TV lost 5c to 149, Independent Newspapers Ltd was down 2c to 490, ANZ shed 21c to 1951, Contact Energy was down 3c at 505, and Fisher & Paykel Appliances lost 3c to 1515.

F&P Healthcare was up 5c at 1215, Auckland Airport was up 7c at 673, Promina gained 4c to 378, and Baycorp Advantage rose 5c to 312.

Mainfreight was down 1c at 139, Owens lost 1c to 111, Freightways shed 3c to 184, and Tranz Rail, which had its rating upgraded by Standard & Poor's today before being promptly pulled, closed up 3c at 133.

S&P pulled the rating because Tranz Rail would become a subsidiary of Toll Holdings following the Australian company's takeover.

Newly listed spirit producer 42 Below was unchanged at 37c after posting a half year net profit of $711,000, largely because of $1.16 million of "income" from debt forgiveness.

Information technology company Provenco was up 1c at 42 after reaffirming its improved profit forecast for the 2003-04 year, and advising shareholders that dividends were on the cards.

Australasian brewer Lion Nathan was unchanged at 640 after posting an annual profit of A$180.1 million ($209.24 million) - up 11 per cent - with a strong contribution from its New Zealand unit.

Turnover of 28.87 million was valued at $90.21 million. There were 50 falls and 40 rises on the 147 stocks traded.

- NZPA