NZ stocks: Sharemarket quiet, opens fairly flat

12.00pm

The sharemarket was steady today on very light volume.

By mid-morning the NZSE-40 capital index was up 1.95 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 2106.12 on turnover of 14.01 million stocks valued at $23.85 million.

Telecom led turnover with $4.74 million worth of stocks traded.

Andrew Kelleher of ASB Securities said investors seemed to be happier with debt collector Baycorp Advantage since it hit a low of 411 on May 10.

Baycorp was up 3c at 465 by mid-morning.

"There looks to be a fair amount of investor comfort with the latest announcements. It's looking encouraging, there's been a bit of volume gone through and it would be nice to think we've turned the corner on that stock considering the negativity surrounding it since December," Mr Kelleher said.

This week Baycorp said it was buying the remaining third of its joint venture, Alliance Group Holdings, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia for $A8.4 million ($NZ10.1 million).

That follows news it had purchased Telstra's debt book for $A300 million.

Auckland Airport bounced back a touch from its losses yesterday, gaining 5c to 447.

Investors continued to wait for news on whether Fletcher Forests and Citic's renewed partnership could enter its bid for the Central North Island Forestry Partnership.

Fletcher Forests was down 1c at 25, its preference shares were unchanged at 25, and Forests' 17.6 per cent shareholder Rubicon was up 1c at 65.

Elsewhere on the market, Telecom was down 2c at 515, Contact Energy lost 1c at 413, Fisher & Paykel Appliances was down 5c at 955, Sky Network TV lost 3c to 463, and Tranz Rail was down 5c at 345.

Fletcher Building was up 3c at 282, Independent Newspapers Ltd gained 1c to 385, Telstra was up 3c at 565, Sky City Casino gained 2c to 648, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 3c to 870, The Warehouse was up 13c at 752 and meat exporter Richmond was up 7c at 247.

The New Zealand dollar eased slightly today after storming US47c for the first time in 23 months yesterday.

The kiwi has gained about 2 US cents in the last fortnight.

Rises outnumbered falls 38 to 31 on the 115 stocks traded.

On Wall Street the Dow Jones industrial average was up 52.17 points, or 0.52 per cent, at 10,157.88; the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 6.14 points, or 0.57 per cent, at 1086.02; and the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was up 9.27 points, or 0.56 per cent, at 1673.45.

- NZPA