NZ stocks: Retail sector buoys otherwise weak market

12.00pm

Retail stocks, boosted by yesterday's strong retail sales data, curbed a sharp fall on the sharemarket today.

Leading the charge was Briscoe which jumped 14c to 214 and was only 4c off its record. Hallenstein Glasson was up 2c at 274 while The Warehouse was up 2c at 740. Michael Hill bucked the trend with a 5c fall to 515. Retail sales were up 1.8 per cent compared with expectations of just 0.3 per cent.

The NZSE-40 capital index was off 3.26 points at 2065.44 at 11.30am on moderate volume of 6.7 million shares worth $28.5 million.

Market leader Telecom weakened 7c to 489 after the telecom sector had a rough night overseas. On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 40.41, or 0.4 per cent, to 10,208.67 while the Nasdaq was off 43.36 points, 2.43 points, to 1742,51, its lowest close in five weeks.

"There was a very weak global sector in global telecommunications overnight and so that has had a negative impact on Telecom," JB Were broker Murray Rutherford said.

As well, cyclical stocks such as Carter Holt Harvey, down 1c at 186, weakened as international investors worried about the strength of the global economy recovery.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare fell 8c to 967. There was solid turnover with 722,000 shares worth $6.7 million traded. The company is poised to unveil a strategy to sell its products in central Europe and Scandinavia, Reuters reported.

The company, best known offshore for its innovative two-drawer dishwashers, is looking to diversify from the mature Australasian market, where it generates 75 per cent of revenues.

Auckland Airport rose 2c to 440, after Auckland City Council yesterday announced it had appointed Credit Suisse First Boston to conduct a scoping study on the sale of its quarter stake.

Sky TV was down 4c at 455, Cavalier was up 4c at 620 as was Ports of Auckland at 639 while Baycorp Advantage was up 5c at 580.

There were 25 rises against 22 falls among the 92 stocks traded.

- NZPA