NZ stocks: War jitters suppress local market

12.00pm

Fears that the war in Iraq might last longer than expected kept offshore sharemarkets pinned down, and the New Zealand market was under pressure as well.

Just after 11am the NZ50 gross index was marginally down by 3.03 points at 1911.05 and the NZSE40 capital index had slipped 1.17 points to 1883.64 on turnover of $26.6 million.

Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 finished down 64.0 points, or 1.7 per cent at 3729.1, its lowest close for eight days, while on Wall St the blue-chip Dow eased 28.43 points or 0.35 per cent to 8201.45.

New Zealand investors continued to shy away from the market this morning, providing few highlights. Usual market leader Telecom topped the turnover, falling 2c to 435 on $9.4 million worth of shares.

Brokers said many eyes would be on Air New Zealand after Qantas warned this morning that it would not meet its full year profit target because of terror fears and the war.

As a result, Qantas shares plunged A26c or 7.8 per cent weaker in mid morning trade to A$3.06 ($3.38). Air NZ shares were flat at 51.

Tranz Rail, which last night said it was putting its road freight division on the market, eased 5c to 100 on moderate turnover.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare and its appliance cousin both rose 10c to 935 and 950 respectively. Yesterday FPH's Australian competitor Resmed announced an alliance with United States cardiological hospital group MedCath.

Resmed is forecasting a 20 per cent jump in revenue this year, as the United States market for sleep-disorder products continues to grow.

Other moves, mostly on light volume, included Michael Hill was up 5c to 430, and defensive stock Westpac gained another 15c to 1555. Baycorp Advantage fell 5c to 130, Auckland Airport slipped 4c to 521 and the Warehouse lost a cent to 565.

So far there have been 31 rises and 26 falls on 86 stocks traded.

Other Wall St indexes also eased on concerns about the war and rising oil prices. The broad Standard and Poor's 500 dipped 1.43 points or 0.16 per cent to 868.52. The Nasdaq Composite edged down 3.20 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 1,384.25, after losing 1.3 per cent.

- NZPA