NZ stocks: Stocks hold firm as Telecom reports

The New Zealand sharemarket held up well in the face of offshore weakness and a slightly disappointing quarterly result from dominant stock Telecom.

The NZSE-40 capital index firmed 5.30 points to 1976.75 and smaller stocks made a little ground, the NZSE-SCI capital index rising 3.36 points to 5139.20. Turnover of 30.19 million shares was worth a mild $60.08 million. Falls beat rises 53 to 35.

Credit Suisse First Boston's David Price said Telecom's result was slightly disappointing on the back of a one-off cost but the market took it in its stride. "People have certainly trimmed back their forecasts recently."

The stock closed up 6c at 576.

Mr Price said Telecom was facing tough competition but in the long term people would see benefits as it shifted from being a yield to a growth stock through its Australian expansion.

Carter Holt Harvey continued its good run of late, adding 3c to 173 - a 10 per cent gain from mid-October. Mr Price said underpinning that was the fact that some significant sellers had finished their business, parent International Paper had been strong and industry consolidation continued.

Fletcher Forests finished steady at 27c. It said US-based forestry investor Xylem Investments, which owns 8 per cent of the division, had taken up its rights in full.

Fletcher Building gained 3c to 204 and Energy, ahead of Friday's Commerce Commission decision on whether Shell can buy the division, was up 2c at 817.

Pay TV company Sky TV gained 10c to 291 despite news that TVNZ and Telstra Saturn had joined to introduce digital television next year. The company said its digital subscriptions hit 200,000 by October.

Tourism Holdings, which has downgraded its profit forecast for the June year from $26.8 million to $21 million, shed 10c to 190.

Advantage, perhaps suffering in line with the Nasdaq, fell 13c to 165, AMP was up 53c at $24.13, Contact lost 7c to 293, Sky City added 15c to 760, Tranz Rail fell 10c to 350, and The Warehouse gained 20c to 650.

- NZPA