NZ stocks: Fletcher Energy soars in active trading

The New Zealand sharemarket turned over $382.7 million worth of stocks after Singapore Airlines bought Brierley's stake in Air New Zealand and Lion Nathan raided Montana.

Singapore Airlines purchased 95.5 million Air NZ B shares worth $286 million, while Lion Nathan paid $22.5 million for Guinness Peat Group's stake in the listed winemaker, ABN Amro institutional sales head Nigel Scott said.

Air NZ A shares rose 2c to 184 on the news, while the Bs were steady at 250.

Lion Nathan was up 3c to 488, and Montana and GPG both closed 1c stronger at 235 and 131 respectively.

Mr Scott said the other standout stock on the day was Fletcher Energy, which soared 28c to 780 following a Business Herald report that final bids had been placed. Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Enron, BP-Amoco, Unocal and Apache Energy were among those named as having conducted due diligence on the company. Fletcher Challenge declined to comment.

"People are beginning to realise that a very genuine transaction is going to be taking place around the Fletcher Energy camp," Mr Scott said.

The NZSE-40 Capital Index closed up 11.05 points (0.52 per cent) at 2149.48. Rises outnumbered falls 57 to 32 among the 151 stocks traded.

There was comparatively little action in the other top 10 stocks, with market giant Telecom closing unchanged at 750. Number two stock Carter Holt Harvey - which last week reported a first quarter profit of $90 million, up from $13 million - closed 1c higher at 186.

"Carters is still seeking investor support following the annual meeting," Mr Scott said.

Fletcher Building was up 3c at 224 but Forests closed 1c weaker at 85.

The Warehouse rallied 17c to 547, and Auckland Airport rose 6c to 283.

However, Fisher and Paykel softened 9c to 716, Contact Energy was down 6c at 261 and Tower came off 2c to close at 522.

Axa and United Networks both rallied 13c to 670 and 342 respectively, while Tranz Rail closed up 6c at 381.

On the downside, Baycorp continued to yo-yo, falling 15c to 1275, GDC was down 12c at 480 and Advantage weakened 9c to 297 despite its good result.

- NZPA