NZ stocks: Sharemarket steady in early trading

The sharemarket held steady in this morning's trading as the major stocks traded largely unchanged.

By 11.30am the benchmark NZSX-50 gross index was up 0.04 points at 2654.88 and the NZSX-All capital index was up 0.32 points at 895.90.

Market leader Telecom was unchanged at 568.

Total turnover by 11.30am was worth $25.7 million.

Barry Lindsay of NZ First Capital said the market was expected to be quite quiet as much of Australia has a public holiday today.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances was up 12c by 11.30am to an all time high of 481.

The gain follows on from a 31c rise on Friday when the company announced it had signed a deal with the US home improvement chain Lowes which will increase the number of US outlets selling its products by a half.

"On further examination...of that particular deal and other things that are happening within that group the market's most impressed and is continuing to re-rate the stock," Mr Lindsay said.

Independent Newspapers Ltd (INL) was at 490 from a closing price of 483 on Friday. Mr Lindsay said today's share price is ex the company's capital distribution.

The company is paying its shareholders $340 million by way of a capital return. One in six shares have been cancelled and shareholders will be paid $4.66 for each one cancelled.

Mr Lindsay said the theoretical ex-issue price was 486, resulting in a net gain so far today of 4c.

He said INL was probably firmer as a result of a recent good showing by Sky Network TV, which was up 5c at 530. INL holds just over 78 per cent in Sky TV.

Contact Energy fell 1c to 587, after rising 10c on Friday amid rumours that Origin Energy and the Australian Gas Light Co were front runners for the purchase of Edison Mission's 50.1 per cent stake in the company.

Other stocks on the move by 11.30am this morning included: Auckland International Airport down 3c at 685, Michael Hill Jeweller up 9c at 599, TrustPower up 5c at 420, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare down 8c at 1265, Tower up 1c at 169.Tenon fell 2c to 192, The Warehouse was down 1c at 438, Fletcher Building down 3c at 457 and WestpacTrust down 18c at 1956.

Of the 124 stocks traded there were 40 rises and 23 falls.

Overseas on Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 11.64 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 10,472.84. The S&P 500 Index edged up 0.67 point, or 0.06 per cent, to 1140.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 16.86 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 2049.77.

In Britain, the FTSE 100 share index ended down 1.8 points at 4570.0.

- NZPA