NZ stocks: Sharemarket makes small gain on mixed trade

The sharemarket finished today's session modestly higher after a day of what one broker described as mixed, directionless trade.

By 5pm close the benchmark NZSX-50 gross index was up 4.32 points at 2599.11, while the NZSX-All capital index was up 1.82 points at 881.94.

Amro Craigs Equities retail advisor Bryon Burke said the market traded up and down "with not a lot of direction as such".

"Interest still appears to focused on the primary issues (initial public offers) on the market," he said.

"I imagine advisors and broking firms are busy looking through those just as much as those that are already listed."

The main index's gain was largely powered by gains in top 10 stocks.

Market leader Telecom gained 3c to 568. Contact Energy which got sold down on Friday was up 4c today at 556.

The two Fisher & Paykel stocks which had both had "a yo yo ride" in the days since they announced their annual result last week both rose today, Appliances by 5c to 456 and Healthcare by 5c to 1280.

Elsewhere across the top stocks, Auckland International Airport was down 5c to 661, Carter Holt Harvey was up a cent at 202, Fletcher Building was up a cent at 440, and The Warehouse was down 2c to 440.

New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG) was up 5c at 67 after today reporting "good" oil traces in a 7m column at its Pukeko-1 well.

New listing Mike Pero Mortgages finished its first day on the market 6c lower than its $1 listing price at 94c. The mortgage broking franchise company raised $10 million through an its initial public offering (IPO), with an oversubscription of 3 million shares allocated on Friday.

Guinness Peat Group closed 22c lower at 195 after going ex a one for ten share bonus issue.

National Property Trust and Restaurant Brands both went ex-dividend today. National property at 2.25 cents per share and Restaurant Brands 5.5 cents per share. National Property ended a cent lower at 99 and Restaurant Brands fell 7c to 125.

Meanwhile after falling on Friday on a regulatory decision by the Commerce Commission, NGC Holdings finished today's session up 5c to 250 and PowerCo was up 2c to 213.

The Commerce Commission said natural gas pipelines operated by NGC Holdings, Powerco, Vector, and Maui Development should be subject to price controls.

Other stocks to move today included: BayCorp Advantage down 3c to 295, Cavalier up 3c to 481, Independent Newspapers down 3c to 480, Infratil down 2c to 305, NZX up 8c to 910, Sanford down 15c to 500, Steel & Tube up 5c to 393, Tourism Holdings Ltd down 2c to 165, and Waste Management down 6c to 453.

Turnover for the day was fairly light at $61.71 million and there were 53 rises and 52 falls among the 153 stocks traded.

- NZPA