NZ shares: Telecom rebound lifts market

6.30pm

A mild rebound in Telecom's price helped lift the sharemarket today.

However, trading was extremely light. Salomon Smith Barney broker Craig Robins said a lot of clients had shut their books for the year and in the thin, flow-driven market sharp swings were common.

The benchmark NZSE-40 capital index finished 10.29 points up at 1920.88 on turnover worth $38 million. The top 10 index rose 7.29 points to 864.44 and the small stocks index rose 10.47 to 5604.96.

Telecom, which has had a rough month, slumped to a 14-month low of 435 on Monday. But it rebounded 12c to 451 today, with some analysts saying it has been oversold.

Air New Zealand closed up 1c at 51 after the Government gave its nod to the proposed tie-up with Qantas. Brokers here said there were few, if any, investors that doubted the Government's decision.

BIL International fell 2c to 53 after announcing that talks with a potential buyer for Camerlin Group Berhad's 22.26 per cent stake in BIL had fallen through.

The two Fisher & Paykel sisters reacted badly to the rising kiwi dollar. Healthcare fell 35c to 945 and Appliances, which is more exposed to the Australian dollar, dropped 15c to 1020.

Recent riser Restaurant Brands fell 2c to 153 in the wake of a decision it was changing to a cheaper chicken supplier for its KFC franchise.

Despite anecdotal evidence of a bumper Christmas spend-up and the benefits of a strong kiwi dollar, The Warehouse fell 9c to 713. It rose 16c in the first two days of the week.

Other retailers were flat, with Briscoes unchanged on 280, Hallenstein Glasson up 1c at 265 and Pacific Retail unchanged at 280.

Port Tauranga rose 3c to 445 and NorthPort rose 15c to 300 after news it was involved in a joint venture with Ports of Auckland to provide piloting and tug services on the Whangarei Harbour.

Ports of Auckland, which said November container volumes were up 13 per cent on a year ago, was unchanged on 630.

Among the leaders to move, Auckland Airport fell 3c to 537, Sky City rose 11c to a new high of 805, Fletcher Building rose 4c, also to a new high of 342, Baycorp fell 6c to 204, and Westpac NZ fell 17c to 1403.

High flying stock Cavalier pulled back 9c to 366 today while thinly traded Allied Farmers rose 15c to 210 on light volume. NZ Refining fell 25c to 1825.

There were 50 rises and 37 falls among the 125 stocks traded.

- NZPA