NZ stocks: Shares snooze as market awaits Air NZ news

12.00pm

The approaching Christmas season caught the New Zealand sharemarket snoozing this morning, despite a fresh development in the Air New Zealand-Qantas deal waiting in the wings.

At 11am, the benchmark NZSE-40 capital index up 2.21 points to 1912.81 on slight turnover worth $12.6 million.

Dealers said a stronger New Zealand dollar and indifferent offshore markets left New Zealand struggling for direction and liquidity this morning.

"Often people overseas that want to do their business get it done fairly early on in December," said Richard Burton of Forsyth Barr Frater Williams.

Air New Zealand was up a cent to 51 and was not expected to move the market much, regardless of a Government decision due today on whether it supported an alliance between Air NZ and Qantas.

Government approval would see the proposal go to the Commerce Commission. The deal is already before Australia's regulatory body.

A firmer Telecom edged up 3c to 442 after careering to a 14-month low of 435 on Monday over pessimism about its short-term progress.

BIL International announced this morning that talks with a potential buyer for Camerlin Group Berhad's 22.26 per cent stake in BIL had fallen through. BIL last traded yesterday at 53c.

Recent riser Restaurant Brands gained another 2c to 157 and retailer Briscoe was flat at 280 despite anticipation of healthy Christmas sales. Its rival the Warehouse eased 7c to 715 after a 16c jump in the last two days.

Other moves included Tower up 3c to 181, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare down 15c to 965, Port of Tauranga up 3c to 445, and Rubicon down a cent to 66. NorthPort rose 15c to 300 after news it was involved in a joint venture with Ports of Auckland to provide piloting and tug services on the Whangarei Harbour.

So far there have been 37 rises and 21 falls on 100 stocks traded.

On Wall St stocks slid on Tuesday after a warning from McDonald's Corp that it would post its first loss ever and dour outlooks by retailers about the pivotal holiday shopping season.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 92.01 points, or 1.07 per cent, at 8535.39. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 7.41 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 902.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 8.28 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 1392.05.

- NZPA