NZ stocks: Shares make gains in morning trade

The New Zealand sharemarket traded in positive territory this morning, little affected by news of a possible New Zealand case of variant creutzfeldt-jakob disease which saw the kiwi tumble on forex markets yesterday.

By midday the NZSX-50 gross index was 8.5 points or 0.4 per cent higher at 2187.01 while the NZSX-40 was up 8.5 points or 0.4 per cent higher at 2111.07.

Broker Peter Lynds of Direct Broking said the market had opened relatively quietly, but was "tracking just a touch better".

"It looks like it might travel a bit better without going too much more. It certainly seems to be reasonably well bid and you've got the reporting session coming through particularly over the next couple of weeks," he said.

Although there was an element of "wait and see" there still seemed to be interest in the market's top stocks.

Mr Lynds said there were no signs of the market being affected by concerns about a suspected case of variant creutzfeldt-jakob disease case in the Waikato.

Although it could potentially affect the entire market if the case was confirmed, it would hit the likes of rural services company Wrightsons particularly, Mr Lynds said.

Wrightsons was down 2c by midday to 122, and Mr Lynds said there might have been some selling on the back of the news, but overall "the market seems to be quite responsible about it", he said.

Elsewhere on the market, heavyweight Telecom led the early gains, rising 4c to 532 almost immediately and remaining at that level throughout the morning.

Waste collection and treatment company Waste Management rose 2c to 379 by midday, building on gains made yesterday after a favourable half year profit result.

Australian financial services giant AMP regained 10c to 500 after two days of heavy losses.

Tourism Holdings subsided by 3c to 131 in early trade. Yesterday the company announced an improved profit forecast that saw its shares make good gains.

Meanwhile on overseas markets the US' blue-chip Dow average and S&P 500 ended higher yesterday after the government's auction of Treasury notes met a solid response and pushed down bond yields, bringing relief to stock investors worried about the effect of rising interest rates on the economy.

In London, British blue chips notched up modest gains as forecast-beating results from major bank Barclays and engineer GKN combined with the rise on Wall Street to help the FTSE 100 blue-chip index close 0.62 per cent higher at a session peak of 4095.6.

But elsewhere in Europe shares ended mixed as chemicals maker BASF brought a reminder that companies are still under pressure from a weak economy.

In Japan, stocks fell for a fourth straight day, the longest losing streak since April. The Nikkei average was down 0.63 per cent at 9265.56.

Back in New Zealand stocks to move in morning trade included: Auckland International Airport up 5c to 591, Air New Zealand up a cent to 49, BayCorp Advantage up a cent to 175, BIL International down 2c to 73, Fisher & Paykel Appliances up 20c to 1375, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare up 8c to 1195, Hallenstein Glassons down 5c to 285, Ports of Auckland down 3c to 757, Sky City up 13c to 915, Steel & Tube down 3c to 375, Telstra down 4c to 520, Trustpower up 4c to 495, and the Warehouse down 3c to 482.

Rises outnumbered falls 37 to 35 on 111 stocks traded by 11.30am on turnover of $22.6 million.

- NZPA