NZ shares: Retail stocks prop up weak NZ sharemarket

12.00pm

Firmness in the retail sector helped an otherwise weak sharemarket hold close to square in uneventful morning trading today.

Retail stocks firmed after yesterday's much better than expected June quarter retail figures. Elsewhere there was some profit taking after the market had yesterday closed in on five week highs.

The NZSX-50 benchmark index, having got within six points of its all-time (30 month high) yesterday, was down 4.56 points at 2202.47 at 11.45am. The NZSX-40 capital index was down 3.74 at 2126.06 on light turnover of $13.5 million.

Nearly half of the turnover was in leader Telecom which was down 2c at 525.

In the retail sector, Briscoe was up 3c at 181, Michael Hill up 8c at 430, The Warehouse up 4c at 507, Hallenstein Glasson up 3c at 288, Kirkaldie & Stains up 9c to 335 while Pacific Retail was down 2c at 228.

Forsyth Barr Frater Williams broker David Price said he was surprised at the strength in the retail sector.

"They were June retail sale numbers and we've already had July numbers for Briscoes and Warehouse.

"Everyone knows the sales numbers are strong, but the proof will be in the margins and we've already seen that they are under pressure."

Air NZ was unchanged on 49c after announcing a revamp of its trans-Tasman service this morning that will see it scrap free booze and lower prices on the route on average by 20 per cent.

Auckland Airport, expected to benefit from increased flights, was up 4c at 607.

Profit takers in Fisher & Paykel Appliances took it down 15c to 1405 after it stretched to new highs yesterday on news it had signed an alliance with the world's biggest whiteware firm, Whirlpool of the United States.

Mr Price said numbers were lacking in the Whirlpool announcement and investors may hold back until they see something tangible.

Sister company F&P Healthcare fell 7c to 1196.

Turners Auction jumped 28c to 365 -- the highest level for the stock, which listed last October. The shares, which were issued at 150, closed on Friday at $3.41. The rise was on turnover of just 50,000.

Among others to move, Contact Energy fell 5c to 490, NZ Refining fell 19c to 1681, Wakefield Hospital rose 9c to 185, Northport was down 8c at 290 and Wespac NZ was down 5c at 1755.

There were 32 rises and 29 falls among the 112 stocks traded.

In the US, technology stocks rose, boosted by a bullish brokerage call on software maker Oracle Corp, but the blue-chip Dow average hovered around the unchanged mark as investors await the Fed's policy-setting meeting and economic data later this week.

The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 14.71 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 1658.74, after rising almost 1.5 per cent earlier in the day. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average fell 6.31 points to 9184.78. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.47 points to 979.06.

- NZPA