NZ stocks: Sharemarket up for eighth straight day

12.00pm

The New Zealand sharemarket today shrugged off early weakness to be narrowly in the positive late this morning, its eighth straight up day.

The market got a mixed steer from Wall Street where the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.9 per cent and the Nasdaq rose 0.75 per cent to a one-year high of 1575.

The NZ50 Gross Index was up just 0.7 points to 2085.46 at 11.45am while the the NZSE40 rose 0.88 points to 2054.56. Volume was moderate at $33.3 million.

Market heavyweight Telecom recovered from an initial 4c fall to 1c ahead of yesterday at 526 -- an 11-month high. Its turnover was nearly half of the market's total.

Stock of the moment Tranz Rail fell 5c to 83 cents in response to Toll Holdings' lowball bid of 75c per share announced late last night.

Brokers said that with RailAmerica off the scene and no other bidder in sight, Toll could still succeed despite the low offer. Its bid is only conditional on winning 50 per cent control and getting regulatory approval.

Stellar performer Fisher & Paykel Appliances continued to stretch to new records today after its very well-received result yesterday.

It soared another 35 cents to 1230 and traded as high as 1240 today to add to yesterday's 86c gain. The stock has jumped 12 per cent since it posted a $73.5 million annual net profit for the March year. The result was better than expectations of $70 million, and promised a similar result this year despite expectations that its key markets in Australia and New Zealand will come off the boil.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 5c to 1105.

Mainfreight fell 3c to 140 despite reporting a 36 per cent rise in its year net profit to $9.01 million today.

Sanford continued to show weakness after its result this week, falling another 10c to 555.

Turners Auctions, in which GPG placed 19.9 per cent of its stock at 285 yesterday, fell back 10c to 305.

Briscoe, which said at its annual meeting that the year had started well, was up 1c at 196.

Fellow retailer Hallenstein Glasson rose 6c to 295.

Rarely traded Cabletalk rose 5c to 25c on a small parcel of shares.

Others to move included Ebos, down 5c at 300, while Ryman Healthcare was up 3c to 180 and Wellington Drive rose 2c to 38c.

There were 39 rises and 29 falls among the 106 stocks traded.

- NZPA