NZ stocks: Flat market waits for attacks effects to show

12.00 pm

Flat sharemarket waits for attacks effects to show

Trading was slow on the sharemarket this morning, and brokers said it was likely to stay that way as it waited to see how other markets would react to the American attacks on Afghanistan.

At 11am the NZSE-40 capital index was down 2.09 points to 1894.39 on a turnover of $14.8 million.

"Extremely light" volumes were the order of the day with most of the action happening offmarket.

Market heavyweight Telecom topped the turnover by value, falling 2c to 446 on the back of $3.9 million worth of shares. Australian rival telco Telstra rose 7c to 627.

Air New Zealand also provided a flurry of activity, both A and B shares rising 2c to 33 and 32 respectively.

Fisher & Paykel was steady at 1340 as shareholders prepared for this afternoon's vote on whether to separate the company's appliance business from its healthcare division, which would seek listing on Wall Street.

Broker David Price of Credit Suisse First Boston said it seemed almost certain the proposal would go through.

"We still value the company higher than where it currently is and we think some of the parts will be greater than what we've got at the moment."

This morning Contact Energy, steady at 338, announced a joint investment with its cornerstone shareholder Edison Mission Energy to construct and run a $A164 million ($203.5 million), 300MW gas and electricity plant in Victoria, Australia.

Some Australian banks, viewed as defensive stocks, were also on the rise, such as ANZ which was up 35c to 2085.

"There has been a bend back towards defensive of late and they've been a recipient," said Mr Price.

Other stocks to rise included United Networks up 10c to 850; The Warehouse up 6c to 600; Steel & Tube up 5c to 205; Baycorp up 10c to 1200; Horizon up 20c to 1205; and NZ Refining Company up 31c to 1511.

Lion Nathan rose 5c to 560, a recovery from last week falls as investors showed their nervousness about the price Lion was proposing to pay for two Australian wine companies.

Those to fall included Auckland Airport down 10c to 335, Fletcher Building down 4c to 265, Tower down 5c to 485 and Wrightson down 2c to 102.

So far there have been 34 rises and 33 falls on 103 stocks traded.

Trading was healthier on Wall Street on Friday, as stocks mounted a late-day recovery after President Bush proposed at least $US60 ($146.23) billion in new tax cuts to help cushion the nation's economy from the fallout of last month's air attacks.

The tech-laced Nasdaq Composite Index rose 7.99 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 1,605.30, after losing roughly 3 per cent earlier. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average gained 58.89 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 9,119.77, after falling more than 1 per cent earlier. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index nosed up 1.75 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 1,071.38.

- NZPA