NZ stocks: Market unruffled by international unease

12.00pm

The New Zealand top-40 was almost unchanged today despite continuing offshore concern about developments in the Middle East.

By mid-morning the NZSE-40 capital index was down 0.94 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 2077.36, on reasonable turnover of 11.47 million stocks valued at $30.60 million. That was topped by Fletcher Forest's 1.99 million stocks valued at $499,000.

Paul Savory of JB Were said retailers remained in favour, with Briscoe Group still rising off the charts.

By mid-morning Briscoe shot up 11c at 217, The Warehouse lost 5c to 750, Hallenstein Glassons was up 1c at 284 and Pacific Retail gained 9c to 225.

"Briscoe continues its outstanding run. You would have expected it to move into some sort of consolidation phase but at this stage people are still digesting that fantastic profit result," Mr Savory said.

On March 21 Briscoe reported a 40 per cent rise in its net profit to $17.5 million in the year to January 2002.

Unusually buoyant trading conditions and a rising New Zealand dollar helped boost the retailers, as well as a preference for domestic stocks at the moment.

"International markets are very negative, just on concern about what's happening in Israel and the Middle East, and oil prices continuing to march up."

Elsewhere on the market, dental concern Software of Excellence continued rising, up 5c to 291, after the stock exchange queried its huge share price variation between Tuesday and Wednesday, falling then recouping 31c.

SOE told the exchange it was unsure why the share price had suddenly dipped, suggesting it might be related to delays in finalising several projects.

Elsewhere on the market, Carter Holt Harvey lost 2c to 191, Fletcher Building was down 3c at 278, Air New Zealand was down 1c at 35, Baycorp Advantage was down 7c at 593, Auckland Airport shed 1c to 432, Northland Port lost 6c to 260, and Restaurant Brands was down 1c at 212.

Telstra lost 6c to 645 while Telecom gained 2c to 495 despite speculation yesterday that it might write off its unprofitable Australian company AAPT, which analysts said would come as no surprise.

On the up side, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 13c to 988, Ports of Tauranga gained 3c to 783, Sky TV was up 1c at 456, and Tranz Rail rose 3c to 410 on light volume. Fletcher Forests was unchanged at 25.

There were 38 falls and 28 rises on the 111 stocks traded.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell for its fourth straight session, tumbling 115.42 points, or 1.12 per cent, to 10,198.29; the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 11.36 points, or 1.00 per cent, at 1125.40; and the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 20.05 points, or 1.11 per cent, to 1784.35.

- NZPA