NZ stocks: Genesis steals limelight on positive market

A stand in the market for a chunk of biotechnology company Genesis added the only spark to an otherwise directionless New Zealand sharemarket today.

The market defied a drop on Wall St by ending in positive territory, but brokers noted it was drifting on a sea of disinterest.

" It's purely order driven," Sam Macdonald of Direct Broking said.

The NZSE-50 gross index closed up nearly half a per cent or 8.94 points to 1910.33, while the older NZSE-40 capital index rose 5.09 points to 1897.32.

Genesis was the most actively traded stock, with nearly four million shares changing hands after rural servicing firm Wrightson announced an offer of $1.31 per share.

Its conditional stand for 19.9 per cent of Genesis closes at 3pm tomorrow. The move sent Genesis' share price up 35c to 132 and gave Wrightson an extra cent to 111.

But brokers said the offer was a bit of "bottom fishing" compared to Genesis' true value, which has cash reserves alone equal to $1.39 a share.

Telecom was the next most popular stock, recouping 4c to 429 on a $16.6 million turnover, after falling to a near four-year low earlier this week.

Brokers felt Telecom had been oversold and noted Telecom's yield now outstripped those of some New Zealand bonds. "We've seen Telstra in Australia do the same thing," Mr Macdonald said.

Big trades were also noted in Fletcher Building - up 7c to 370 on offshore order flow - Carter Holt, up a cent to 176, and Baycorp, down 4c to 108. Baycorp has seen a wave of selling in the wake of a negative first half result announced last week.

Shares in Michael Hill International fell 16c to an 18-month low of 445, but analysts said it was more due to uncertainty in the retail sales environment than a fundamental change in the company's outlook.

Air NZ shares remained stable at 51 after the Commerce Commission announced its timeframe for releasing its view on the the proposed Qantas-Air New Zealand merger.

It said draft determinations would be released in early April, followed by a conference in May and a final determination at the end of June.

BIL International, formerly Brierley Investments, fell 2c to 47 after British hotel chain Thistle rejected a takeover offer from BIL, its major shareholder.

Other moves included Contact, up 4c to 440, mining concern GRD down 13c to 103, Hellaby Holdings up 10c to 335, Powerco up 4c to 131, Restaurant Brands up 4c to 134 and Sky City up 9c to 879.

There were 49 rises and 36 falls on 127 stocks traded.

On Wall St, investors put away their wallets as the ongoing uncertainty of war with Iraq, lower car sales from General Motors and a housing-related fall of Home Depot shares knocked the blue-chip Dow to a low not seen in almost five months.

The Dow Jones industrial average surrendered 132.99 points, or 1.7 per cent, to 7704.87, its lowest level since October 10. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 12.52 points, or 0.95 per cent, to 1307.77, and the broad Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 12.82 points, or 1.54 per cent, to 821.99.

- NZPA