NZ stocks: Market holds steady

The sharemarket held ground today in morning trading, having had a seven-session winning streak broken on Friday.

The benchmark NZSX-50 gross index was down 0.06 of a point at 3009.41 at 11.45am. The index last week broke above the 3000 level for the first time.

The NZSX all capital index was down 1.08 of a point at 987.56.

As usual, market leader Telecom led the turnover with $9m of shares traded. It was up 1c to 610.

Overall trading was light, with just $24m worth of shares changing hands.

No 2 stock Contact Energy held steady on 637 after early strength, while the No 3, Carter Holt Harvey, was down 1c to 220 after also being up 1c in early trading.

Fletcher Building, one of the big movers of the market's rally, eased back 4c to 636 today.

Air New Zealand rose 3c to 171 as it received further good news from falling fuel prices and a rising kiwi dollar. Auckland Airport was up 4c to 796.

Hallenstein Glasson was off 18c to 374 after shedding a 14c dividend. The Warehouse fell 4c to 360.

Port of Tauranga rose 7c to 560 following positive publicity about the company over the weekend.

Nuplex rose 4c to equal its historic high of 560.

Trustpower fell 15c to 560. Energy statistics out today showed thermal power production gave ground to wind and hydro.

There were 36 stocks up and 32 down among the 127 traded.

The influence from Wall Street on Friday was mildly positive. US stocks ended slightly higher, helped by strength in technology after bellwether Intel Corp. lifted its sales forecast, although a weak jobs report put a damper on Wall Street.

Although Friday's gains were small, they were enough to drive the Dow average to a nine-month closing high.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 7.09 points at 10,592.21 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up just 0.84 of a point to end at 1191.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 4.39 points, or 0.20 per cent, to close at 2147.96.

The Standard & Poor's 500 ended at its highest mark in more than three years -- for the second time this week. And the tech-driven Nasdaq scored its highest close since January.

- REUTERS