NZ stocks: NZX heads south as top stocks lose ground

12.10pm

The New Zealand sharemarket headed south this morning as key stocks - including Carter Holt Harvey and Contact Energy - lost ground.

At 11.30am, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 18.44 points at 2787.43, while the NZSX-All capital index was down 4.84 points at 928.01.

CHH gave up 9c to 208 after yesterday shedding 16c.

The two-session slide came on news of CHH's third quarter loss of $87 million, down from a $70m profit for the same period last year.

CHH yesterday said the result was affected by a tax liability of $128m, relating to the planned sale of 'non-strategic' forests.

This amounts to about one third of its total 327,000ha forest assets.

ABN Amro Craigs broker James Lock said the slip in CHH could be pinned to a number of factors.

"Obviously the market is just repricing the company," he told NZPA today.

It was difficult to gauge where the repricing of CHH would end, Mr Lock said, noting "it's probably north of these levels."

"We may well have a little bit of kneejerk reaction kicking in here and the stock may well be relatively attractive at these levels."

Elsewhere, Contact was down 8c at 600. Top stock Telecom was unchanged at 578 on turnover of $16.3m.

Mr Lock said the high value of the New Zealand dollar could also be a factor in the market's negative tone.

"The strength in the kiwi dollar has created a bit of a drain," he said.

"The high kiwi is probably presenting an attractive opportunity for offshore investors to take some profits.

"That hasn't helped the Carter Holt Harvey story."

Turnover in morning trade was $51.1m for the 129 stocks traded, which included 33 rises and 48 falls.

There were few other stories of note on NZX today, Mr Lock said.

Before the market opened, share registry operator Computershare was placed on a trading halt ahead of an announcement. Its shares last traded at 970c in mid September.

Nuplex shares lost 5c to 525, consolidating yesterday's 22c gain.

The resins firm said it had raised $56.6m in a placement of 11.55 million shares at $4.90 each to institutional investors.

The money, raised in a book build, would partly fund Nuplex's acquisition of Dutch firm Akzo Nobel's Coatings Resins business.

Steel & Tube gained 2c to 462 after its shareholders yesterday voted in favour of upping total directors' fees by $80,000 to $310,000 a year at its annual general.

Shares in Tenon were unchanged on 218 ahead of today's deadline for bids for sawmills throughout the central North Island.

Other stocks on the move included: Air NZ down 1c at 155, AMP up 3c at 660, Ebos down 3c at 437, Hellaby down 9c at 601, NZ Refining up 40c at 2600, Ports of Tauranga down 10c at 550, and Westpac down 33c at 1812.

Mr Lock said weaker offshore markets overnight had encouraged the softer tone on NZX.

- NZPA