NZ stocks: Shares close up slightly in light pre-Xmas trade

12.00 pm

The New Zealand sharemarket closed slightly higher today as the last stragglers put final trades through ahead of the two-day Christmas break.

The benchmark NZSE-40 index closed up 8.66 points at 2045.71 points, on light turnover worth around $18 million.

"There's not a lot to talk about today," Forsyth Barr Frater Williams dealer Alan Wills said.

"It's just very quiet, pre-Christmas trading."

Market bellwether Telecom, which makes up around 22 per cent of the index, closed up 2c at 496.

Last week's star performer, Briscoes, added a further 5c to 160, BaycorpAdvantage was up 5c at 770, Sky City closed up 8c at 628 and Fletcher Building added 4c to 290.

On the downside, Auckland International Airport slipped a cent to 359.

Auckland's mayor John Banks said on Friday he would be happy to receive about $400 million for the council's 25.8 per cent stake in Auckland Airport, and that the parcel would go to the highest bidder.

At that price, the sum would equate to $3.70 a share.

The council is keen to exit its stake to free up the cash for community projects.

Carter Holt Harvey lost a cent to 165 following the surprise resignation of chief operating officer Jay Goodenbour.

Devon McLean, CCH chief executive of wood products, is expected to take his place.

Air New Zealand closed down a cent at 32c on its first day of trading without its A and B share distinction. Shareholders voted on Wednesday to remove the share structure, which had required holders of A shares to be New Zealand residents.

Tranz Rail was untraded on 395 after announcing today it has completed the sale of its Auckland rail corridor to the Government.

The rail operator signed a preliminary deal in October to sell the lease and assets on the corridor for $81 million.

The local market closed at 12.30pm today, with normal trading resuming on Thursday.

In the US on Friday stocks rallied, as an unanticipated rise in consumer sentiment and heartening forecast by telecom equipment maker Nortel Networks Corp put investors in a buying mood.

The University of Michigan's key gauge of consumer sentiment rose for the third consecutive month in December, as buyers demonstrated confidence in the economy's prospects, even as personal income declined during October. Consumer spending accounts for nearly two-thirds of US economic activity.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished 50.16 points higher, or 0.5 per cent, at 10,035.06. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 4.95 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 1144.88. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index added 27.19 points, or 1.42 per cent, to 1945.73.

- NZPA