NZ stocks: Air NZ shares feature of quiet start to trading

12.00 pm

A quiet start to trading on the sharemarket this morning was peppered with stocks experiencing a shake-out of recent fluctuations in fortune.

Just after 11am, the NZSE-40 was up 4.85 points to 2023.75 on a turnover of $17.8 million.

Possibly the most interesting feature was the rising interest in Air New Zealand shares on solid volumes. Resident-only A shares were up 3c to 35 and freely tradeable B shares were up 3c to 36.

Brokers suggested there was some speculation about the price the Government will pay for its 83 per cent stake in the airline.

"I think maybe some people believe it could be a higher price," said Grant Williamson of Hamilton, Hindin Greene. "I think the low aviation fuel price, which has lifted a lot of the airlines through Asia, is also starting to rub off on Air NZ as well."

With the exception of Air NZ, volumes were "pretty tiny", even for market leader Telecom, which was up 2c at 492.

Brierley's was up 1c to 31 on the back of firming prices for two of its interests, Air NZ and the British Thistle Hotel chain. Thistle, which had slumped as low as 80 pence in the last couple of months, had bounced back to Stg1.07, Mr Williamson said.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was also in the process of finding its feet. After a successful listing on both the Nasdaq and New Zealand sharemarkets last week, the company lost a dollar off its price yesterday, regaining 15c this morning to 1465.

Mr Williamson said the price was also weaker in the US overnight, but expected there would be some profit-taking before the price started to improve.

Another stock to ease after a successful launch was Sky City, down 15c to 625 after touching 660 yesterday, the first day of its 2:1 share split. Brokers felt the initial price was an over-reaction as the fundamentals of the company had not changed.

And after recent gains, the Warehouse lost 10c on thin volumes, to 625. The company went ex dividend by 4c yesterday.

"It could very well be a number of people positioning themselves ahead of the Briscoes float, with the organising broker... maybe making a switch for his clients from the Warehouse to Briscoes," Mr Williamson said.

He also suggested last week's sales figures from the Warehouse's Australian operations were "not what the market was looking for," although he believed that given time, the operation would turn the corner.

Newscorp preference shares nearly topped the total turnover, with an offmarket trade of $1.7 million worth of shares. It last traded on the New Zealand market last Thursday at 600. The following day an overseas media report said Newscorp's stake in a German pay television operation was subject to a legal wrangle.

To date there have been 45 rises and 21 falls on 108 stocks traded.

- NZPA