NZ stocks: Market nudged higher by Telecom

The New Zealand sharemarket inched up in mixed but robust trade today, nudged higher by lead stock Telecom.

At the 5pm close the NZSX-50 gross index was 2.7 points or 0.12 percent higher at 2324.53, while the NZSX-40 capital index was 1.38 points or 0.06 percent higher at 2220.91. Turnover was a healthy $129 million.

An Auckland broker told NZPA market leader Telecom's 6c rise to 503, was significant.

The stock has traded below the 500 level for the past three weeks after being " knocked around pretty heavily by a barrage of news".

Impacting on the stock were the announcements by competitors Vodafone and TelstraClear they were planning to build advanced "3G" mobile and data networks and the Commerce Commission's draft ruling that Telecom should be forced to rent its local loop to its competitors.

"It seems to be recovering a little bit from that", the broker said. "I think there may be just a little bit of pricing in from the market that maybe we've seen the worst possible scenario, and that any calculations on net benefits on unbundling may reduce rather than increase".

Other features of today's session included a 13c rise by Westpac which finished at 1730. "Just following a bounce-back in banks over the last couple of days as people realise that we're maybe not going to see huge asset problems, that they are yielding pretty strongly," the broker said.

Insurer and financial services group Tower continued is recent strong run today, rising 2c to 140 on good volume.

Meanwhile Fisher and Paykel Appliances, which yesterday posted a 3 percent improvement in its half year profit , lost 7c today to finish at 1478.

"The result yesterday was a strong volume performance though I think the market is just little bit worried about the margins and the average selling price that the company is achieving," the broker said.

Sister stock Fisher and Paykel Healthcare also slid today, falling 11c to 1189. The broker said the company was still suffering from poor recent sales figures for its obstructive sleep apnoea products which are seen as its high growth area.

Stocks to rise today included: Affco Holdings up a cent to 25, Auckland International Airport down 5c to 684, BayCorp Advantage down 3c to 288, Briscoe Group down 4c to 180, Cavalier Corp up 2c to 550, Freightways up 2c to 191, Hellaby Holdings down 9c to 463, Independent Newspapers Ltd down 5c to 485, NZX up 13c to 505, Pacific Retail Group down 2c to 236, Sanford down 3c to 540, Sky City up 4c to 119, Steel & Tube Holdings up 4c to 379, Telstra up 2c to 542, Tourism Holdings Ltd down 10c to 143, Tranz Rail up 3c to 141, and the Warehouse down 3c to 580.

There were 45 rises and 54 falls among 152 stocks traded.

- NZPA