NZ stocks: Market slightly up in late morning trading

12.00pm

The sharemarket was slightly up late this morning on the back of a quiet day's trading yesterday.

The benchmark NZSX50 gross index was up 2.8 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 2198.88, while the NZSE40 capital index was up 2.96 points, or 0.14 per cent, at 2135.72.

At 11.30am, $34 million of shares had been traded on volume of 10 million.

Among the 92 stocks traded so far were 36 rises and 22 falls.

Market leader Telecom was up 2c to 521, having traded $16 million worth of shares on turnover of 3.1 million.

Forsyth Barr broker David Price said he expected another quiet day on NZX.

"It's going to be more of the same, a quiet day. The focus will be in a couple of weeks' time when the results season arrives," he told NZPA today.

Meanwhile, Tower was up 3c to 147, despite NZX yesterday saying it had to seek shareholder approval for its alternative capital raising, which Guinness Peat Group (GPG) might underwrite by 10 per cent.

GPG shares had shed 1c to 161 in morning trading.

"I think people are playing their intentions (in relation to Tower and GPG) pretty close to their chest, and you'll see that in trading tomorrow," Mr Price said.

Overseas, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 101.89 points to 9142.84, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 11.44 points to 993.75, while in London the FTSE 100 halted a two-day losing streak to close above the key 4000 mark.

On NZX, stocks to rise included: AMP up 2c to 567, Auckland International Airport up 10c to 600, Fletcher Challenge Forests up 3c to 118, Fisher & Paykel Appliances up 5c to 1345, NZ Refining up 6c to 1660, NZX up 5c to 440, Sky TV up 2c to 465, and Westpac up 15c to 1800.

On the slide were: Carter Holt Harvey down 2c to 176, Contact Energy down 6c to 502, F&P Healthcare down 2c to 1220, Lion Nathan down 5c to 625, Ports of Auckland down 5c to 765, and The Warehouse down 3c to 510.

- NZPA