NZ stocks: Sharemarket edges lower in 'lacklustre' morning

12.10pm

The New Zealand sharemarket got off to a tentative start, with two of its key indices edging lower in morning trade.

At 11.30am, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 1.51 points at 2770.04, while the NZSX-All capital index was down 0.42 points at 919.65.

Top stock Telecom was down 1c at 573 on turnover of $23.8 million. Market turnover totalled an unimpressive $46.9 million. Among the 117 stocks traded were 36 rises and 26 falls.

Forsyth Barr broker David Price said trade on NZX was lacklustre at best. "It's very quiet out there," he told NZPA today.

Fletcher Building was down 5c at 537 after losing 19c yesterday, when it went ex-dividend at 14c a share.

Guinness Peat Group shed 5c to 198. Shares in Contact Energy were up 2c at 594.

"At the end of the day we think Contact is trading at a discount to our valuation ... which is in excess of 630c," Mr Price said.

"The stock is going to go up on very light volume today."

Waste Management was down 4c at 520 after yesterday losing 14c. Baycorp Advantage was up 2c at 360.

Shares in Allied Farmer firmed 2c at 205 after its annual meeting yesterday.

Shares in port companies were also on the move. Port Lyttelton was down 1c at 171, Northland Port was up 2c at 292, and Ports of Auckland was down 5c at 670.

Clothing chain Postie Plus was down 1c at 100, retailer Smith's City was up 1c at 71, discounter The Warehouse was up 1c at 402, and jeweller Michael Hill International was down 2c at 750.

Shares in Air New Zealand edged up 1c at 154 ahead of its annual meeting today.

NZX rose 5c at 735 ahead of a briefing on its third quarter results today.

ABN Amro Craigs broker Matt Willis said there was a lack of buying interest on the market today.

That was typical of an environment in which oil prices and interest rates were on the up.

"Nevertheless, there are pockets of value emerging on the market," he told NZPA today.

Other annual meetings today included those for Team Talk and Skellmax.

The mild gains on the sharemarket this morning came after Wall St turned in a positive performance last night.

- NZPA