NZ stocks: Nuplex jump after placement market highlight

12.00pm

A 5.1 per cent jump in chemical company Nuplex shares following a share placement was the highlight of otherwise quiet trading on the sharemarket today.

Trading in Nuplex shares had been halted on Monday following its announcement on Friday it planned to buy Dutch company Akzo Nobel's Coatings Resins business for 110 million euro ($202 million).

Nuplex today said it had raised $56.6 million in a placement of 11.55 million shares at $4.90 each from institutional investors. The money part fund the Coating Resins purchase. Nuplex shares were up 26c to $5.34.

The benchmark NZSX-50 gross index was up 0.47 points to 2815.86 at 11.45am after it had fallen yesterday to a three-week low. The NZSX-All capital index was up 0.66 to 934.14.

Telecom fell another 1c today to 574 after it fell 9c yesterday on jitters about potential regulation of some mobile phone charging.

Matt Willis of ABN Amro Craigs said if the proposals were pushed through they had the potential to cost Telecom up to $30 to $40 million at an ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) level.

Other brokers said regulation had been expected and analysts had factored in lower profits to their forecasts.

Trade in Telecom made up half of the market's $36 million turnover.

Fletcher Building was up 4c to 561 to recoup yesterday's 4c loss.

Carter Holt Harvey was down 2c to 231 ahead of its result announcement later today.

Auckland Airport was down 3c to 717. The new Auckland City Council said it had no intention to sell its 12.8 per cent stake.

Westpac NZ was up 5c to 1850 and other than that there were no moves of not among the top 50 stocks.

Vertex was up 1c to 162 after reported it expected its half year net profit would be up 12-15 per cent to $2.4-2.5m while for the full year, it expects the strong New Zealand dollar and higher material costs to undercut first half gains so its final result will be flat with 2004.

There were 29 stocks up and 30 down among the 114 traded.

On Wall Street, US stocks fell as health insurers' shares slid on worries that the New York attorney general's probe will hit the entire industry.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 58.70 points at 9,897.62; the Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed down 10.79 points, or 0.97 per cent, at 1,103.23 and the Nasdaq Composite Index finished down 13.62 points, or 0.70 per cent, at 1,922.90.

The S&P 500 closed at its lowest level since August 30.

- NZPA