NZ stocks: Market positive after brief flutter down

After a brief flutter downwards this morning, the New Zealand sharemarket headed in to positive territory in a session with few stand-out performers.

At 11.30am, the benchmark NZSX-50 was up 0.26 points at 2418.82, while the NZSX-40 capital index was up 0.29 points at 2233.03.

Trading was slim with just $24.5 million worth of shares changing hands, $4.1 million of which was in Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.

Healthcare shares were down 10c at 1220.

Market heavyweight Telecom was unchanged on 552, having traded $4.6 million worth.

By 11.30am, there had been 25 rises and 24 falls among the 107 stocks traded.

Forsyth Barr broker David Price said the market could be taking a breather.

"The market has been particularly active and it's been particularly strong over a long period, and we do tend to go through these flat patches," he told NZPA today.

"When you look at the results (issued by companies this week) there's nothing that's been enough to drive things forward," he said.

Turners Auctions shares continued to dive lower after it yesterday shed 30c when it issued its annual result.

In the December 2003 year, Turners profit dropped by 4.7 per cent to $2.83 million as a result of its move into Canada.

Today, its shares were down a further 18c at 422, a five-month low.

Shares Provenco were up 1c at 58 after yesterday confirming it had signed a $21 million deal to supply Malaysian oil giant Petronas Dagangan Berhad with outdoor payment terminals.

NZX was up 30c to 760 after a 25c surge higher yesterday. Last week NZX posted a full-year profit of $2.9 million.

Shares in the tightly-held exchange operator have gained 34 per cent since January 5.

Other companies in the news yesterday -- Contact Energy, Ports of Auckland, DB Breweries, and Pacific Retail -- failed to fire.

Movers so far today included AMP up 5c at 522, Auckland International Airport up 1c at 666, Fletcher Building down 3c at 401, Freightways up 1c at 243, Hirequip down 1c at 99, Restaurant Brands down 2c at 115, South Port up 1c at 143, and The Warehouse up 2c at 466.

There was $8280 worth of shares traded on New Zealand Alternative Exchange this morning.

Overseas, the Dow Jones climbed 104 points to 10,732, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 13 points to 1159, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rallied 31 points to 2084.

- NZPA