NZ stocks: Market trades sideways in quiet day

The New Zealand sharemarket finished rather flat today after a mixed day's trading.

The benchmark NZSX50 gross index inched up 2.58 points or 0.119 per cent to finish at 2169.73, while the NZSX40 ended up 2.59 points or 0.123 per cent higher at 2117.17. Turnover was $69.8 million on 23.2 million shares traded.

ABN Amro Craigs Equities Retail adviser Bryon Burke told NZPA trading was fairly light across the board with the market finding little direction from activity on overseas markets last night.

Mr Burke said one of the few features of today's session was "a little bit of profit taking" on stocks which have enjoyed gains in recent sessions such as Fisher & Paykel Appliances, and Carter Holt Harvey.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances was down 35c to 1310 and Carter Holt Harvey was down 30c to 169.

On the upside, Mr Burke said the market remained yield-driven and high-yielding stocks such as Sky City, Cavalier and Fletcher Building were the ones being chased, "they're the ones that have gone up today", he said.

Sky City rose 20c to 925, Cavalier was up 10c to 495 and Fletcher Building gained 7c to finish at 365.

Meanwhile, Mr Burke said the market was adopting a "wait and see" approach to Tranz Rail as the troubled rail operator's directors considered the two bids received for its trucking business TranzLink.

"Depending on the price they get, presuming they sell it, that will obviously result in the price going up or down."

Tranz Rail shares were up a cent to 90 by the market's close.

The stock of struggling financial services group Tower was unchanged today at 158 despite news from across the Tasman that its Australian arm was the subject of an Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigation. The company is alleged to have misrepresented payout entitlements to some superannuation and savings policyholders between 1993 and 2001.

Stocks to rise in trading today included: AMP up 4c to 606, Auckland International Airport up 8c to 595, Axa Asia up 14c to 270, BayCorp Advantage up a cent to 166, Fletcher Forests up 2c to 114, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare up a cent to 1147, Hellaby Holdings up 2c to 410, NZ Refining Co up 10c to 1660, Owens Group up a cent to 99, Port of Auckland up 4c to 760, Promina up 2c to 253, Sanford up 3c to 514, Tourism Holdings up 3c to 112, the Warehouse up 9c to 501, and Waste Management up 2c to 353.

Stocks to fall included: Briscoe down a cent to 199, Independent Newspapers Ltd down 4c to 426, Infratil down a cent to 199, NZX down a cent to 410, Richmond down 2c to 312, Rubicon down a cent to 71, Ryman Healthcare down 2c to 176, Telecom down a cent to 519, Telstra down 5c to 510, and Trustpower down 5c to 445 .

There were 43 rises and 36 falls on 132 stocks traded.

- NZPA