NZ stocks: Neutral mood lacks fizz

Heavy turnover in Telecom and Fletcher Energy dominated the sharemarket - the latter no doubt putting a smile on the face of Fletcher chairman Rod Deane.

However, although the NZSE-40 pressed above 2000 points, the market's tone was neutral with none of the buzz of earlier this week, John Williams of JB Were said.

Fletcher Energy's 7.99 million shares and Telecom's 6.68 million dominated total turnover of 38.27 million, valued at $163.76 million.

"There has been talk that Telecom might get into some of the Australian indices - you've got to satisfy liquidity and turnover in the Australian market - and there's also a bit of talk that Fletcher Building may not stay in the New Zealand index top 10," Mr Williams said.

Telecom ended up 14c at $5.83, and Building was down 3c at $2.14.

Among the other Fletcher stocks, Energy rose 15c to $9.55, as the dollar's fall boosted the value of the Shell/Apache bid in $US, and Forests rose 1c to 34.

By close of play, the kiwi had fallen to 42.04USc, driven down sharply by a rate cut and poor GPD figures in Australia.

Shareholder acceptance of the Shell bid has resulted in a supply of extra investment money.

"It's decision time for people - do I go back into the market or do I cash up? It's sort of forced the issue.

"There are only two-odd weeks of trading in Fletcher Energy, so it's get out now or - especially for the small shareholders - you're left with Rubicon and Capstone, which a lot of people don't want," said Mr Williams.

Telstra, which reported a 25 per cent rise in its net six-month profit to $A2.6 billion ($3.15 billion) yesterday, gained 20c to $8.05.

Restaurant Brands was up 5c at $1.43 after releasing positive first-quarter sales figures of $57.7 million, up 10 per cent in the past 12 weeks. The fast food operator's sales have risen for the ninth consecutive quarter.

Tranz Rail ended up 5c at $4.15, Advantage Group was up 9c at $1.22, Baycorp gained 10c to $11.25, INL was up 5c to $3.70, and United Networks gained 6c to $8.61.

Air New Zealand As were down 2c at $1.45, and the Bs lost 3c to $1.82. Fisher & Paykel shed 15c to $8.60, and Genesis lost 30c to $4.50.

The Warehouse was down 1c at $5.60, Carter Holt Harvey was down 1c at $1.90, Auckland Airport was down 10c at $3.48, and Trust Power was down 10c at $3.10.

Rises outnumbered falls 75 to 39 on the 157 stocks traded.

"I think there's an unusual tone in that volumes are good, prices are moving up but there's just not an excitable market," Mr Williams said. "It's not a buzzing market."

On Wall St, the Dow Jones industrial average climbed 138.38 points, or 1.31 per cent, to 10729.60, while the broad Standard & Poor's 500 advanced 8.09 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 1261.89.

The Nasdaq added 19.49 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 2223.92.

- NZPA