NZ stocks: Global telecom recovery helps at home

Telecom again led the sharemarket up yesterday as the telecom sector worldwide continued its recovery from last year's beating.

Fletcher Energy maintained its good run, rising 7c to $8.62.

It topped the market turnover of $86.9 million with $26 million traded.

Telecom ended 17c up at $5.40 and is now up more than 12 per cent from its $4.81 level at the start of the year.

Reports that Telecom is looking at going it alone while Japan's DoCoMo may team with Hutchison Whampoa in their bids for the mobile phone assets of Cable and Wireless Optus, did not dampen enthusiasm for the company.

Credit Suisse First Boston broker David Price said his firm had gone positive on the New Zealand market and was picking the NZSE-40 would hit 2150 by the end of the year.

"Since the easing by the US Fed, we'll probably see the Reserve Bank adopt a far more conciliatory approach than the more hawkish stance they took in December.

"We believe it will be very hard for the RB to maintain their tightening bias when you've got Europe, the US and the aussies going the other way," he said.

Telstra rose 16c to $8.61 on the local market.

Sky TV fell 5c to $3.20 after news that it had dropped out of the bidding for the right to screen games from the All Blacks' tour of Argentina, Scotland and Ireland at the end of the year.

Sky City, continued its surge, rising 6c to $8.45.

Contact Energy rose 6c to $2.72 with news that 40 per cent owner Edison Mission was not contemplating selling its holding despite the problems it is having on the home front.

Fletcher Building fell 6c to $2.22 on profit taking and negative building data coming from Australia.

AMP, after rising in yesterday morning, fell another 5c to $23.25 following on from its dollar fall on Monday.

Auckland Airport continued its good run, rising 8c to $3.34.

- NZPA