NZ stocks: Market in step with brighter US mood

The sharemarket turned in a solid performance yesterday, lifting nearly 1 per cent in line with good gains on overseas markets.

The gloom lightened in the United States after carmaker General Motors and software maker Intuit said business was unlikely to get worse. Both blue chips and the Nasdaq Composite Index rallied.

The NZSE-40 Capital Index closed up 17.48 points at 2038.16, the Top 10 index gained 8.82 points, or 1 per cent, to 890.42 and the Small Stocks Index ended up just 3.05 points at 5508.20.

The pattern of light turnover prevailed with $59.6 million of stock traded.

The day's star was Fisher & Paykel, which tracks ever upward ahead of its split and hit an all-time high of 355c. It ended 35c ahead at 350.

Another big mover was Fletcher Building, which jumped 7c to 262. ASB Securities broker Ian Witters said investors had looked past the reported annual loss of $272 million and was more interested in the $19 million profit from the company's first three months as a standalone company.

Mr Witters said it appeared Building had cleared its books and would be a beneficiary of the turnaround in migration patterns.

Telecom topped the turnover at $13.7 million and finished up 4c at 505.

Fletcher Forests gained 1c to 32c after posting a loss of $749 million for the June year. The company gave an upbeat presentation to journalists but despite the optimism, Salomon Smith Barney broker Craig Robins described the result as "messy".

AMP rose 60c to 2310 after posting a net profit of $A403 million ($492.7 million) for the six months to June 30 from $A525 million for the same period last year.

Brokers said the market bought on relief that the result was not as bad as had been telegraphed.

Air NZ lost further ground ahead of the impending Government decision on its share structure, with the A shares down 2c to 105 and the Bs steady on 130.

Baycorp rose strongly on good volume, up 16c to 1351.

Others to perform well included DB, up 8c to 520, Independent Newspapers, 15c to 355, Lion Nathan, 15c to 535, Sky City 30c to 1130, Tower, 7c to 515 and The Warehouse, 11c to 590.

Tranz Rail, which suspended dividends after the market closed, fell 5c to 410.

There were 47 rises and 44 falls among the 142 stocks traded.

- NZPA