NZ Stocks: Sharemarket springs higher on telecom rebound

By SIMON LOUISSON

The sharemarket lifted today on a rebound by lead stock Telecom and in sympathy with global markets which gained on a fall in oil prices.

Telecom had been under considerable selling pressure since its result a month ago. However, two substantial foreign sellers appeared to have completed their selldowns and the stock rebounded 7c to 571 on good volume worth over $61 million.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen's gaff in letting slip a rise in interest rates tomorrow by the Reserve Bank did not stir the market as a rise has been universally forecast. The expectation of higher rates has been a factor behind Telecom's earlier slide, brokers said.

The benchmark NZSX-50 gross index closed up 1 0.6 points at 2740.75 while the NZSX-All capital index ended up 3.76 points at 912.77.

Fletcher Building, which has been taking on a two-day road show, surged 11c to a record high of 547. Brokers said the construction company had a good story to tell and was in good shape to weather a slowdown in the housing market.

There was good trade in "in play" stock NGC, which fell 2c to 285 on turnover worth just under $6m. There was similar turnover in Sky City, which rebounded 10c to 455.

Stock exchange operator NZX fell 5c to 810 as it continued to feel the effects of Monday's collapse of discount broker Access Brokerage. NZX fell 20c yesterday. Access' liquidators have asked for patience from investors, while the BNZ froze all accounts held in Access' name, including trust accounts.

Air New Zealand fell 6c to 188 as investors unloaded the national airline to make way for a Qantas book-build as part of British Airway's decision to quit the Australian carrier.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances, like Telecom under pressure since a reasonable result last month, finally found some respite today with a 5c bounce to 410. Its now unrelated namesake, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, fell 15 to 1350.

Fishing company Sanford suffered an 18c fall to 410.

The Warehouse continued this week's retreat with a 10c fall to 438. After having recovered from 402 in early July to 463 on September 1, the discount retailer has lost 19c this week ahead of its result due on Friday. Briscoe Group continued to fall after its result dropping 4c to 136,

Insurer Promina rose 12c to a new high of 487. Yesterday KPMG put out a report saying it expected more M&A action in the sector.

Port of Tauranga fell 4c to 510 after Infratil revealed it was the seller of 2 million shares yesterday. Infratil, which has been selling down for three years, now holds 6.1 per cent and said it would continue to sell at the right price. It was unchanged on 310.

Ports of Auckland, hit by a four day strike by port workers, fell 5c to 691.

Australian based debt collector Baycorp Advantage rose 6c to 350, its highest price in nearly two years.

Other moves in the top 50 included: Carter Holt Harvey, down 3c to 230, TrustPower, down 4c to 474, but Michael Hill rose 5c to 700.

The small stocks index rose 3.07 points to 7576.51 while the top 10 index rose 6.47 to 1099.36.

Among the small stocks to rise, Colonial Motors rose 8c to 309 on just 160 shares traded, Mooring Systems rose 10c to 420 and iiNet rose 18c to 300.

There were 47 rises against 40 falls among the 141 stocks traded.

Total turnover was worth $104 million, with 28.9 million shares changing hands.

- NZPA