NZ stocks: Telecom and Contact fail to fire in morning trade

12.15pm

The sharemarket's index of top 50 stocks tiptoed higher in morning trade despite share price dips in two of its three leading stocks.

At 11.30am, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 3.83 points at 2778.44.

Shares in market heavyweight Telecom were down 4c at 611, while those in Contact Energy were down 2c at 598.

Carter Holt Harvey shares were up 6c at 221.

Morning trade saw 117 stocks, including 38 rises and 25 falls, change hands on turnover of $35.1 million.

The NZSX-All capital index was down 0.59 of a point at 933.87.

Hamilton Hindin Greene broker Grant Williamson said the market had been trading quietly this morning.

Contact posted a net profit of $100.6m for the nine months ended June 30, up 36 per cent on the previous same period.

Contacts' earnings per share also rose 36 per cent, from 12.86 cents per share (cps) to 17.45 cps.

"I think it was a reasonable result... the 10c special dividend may have just disappointed one or two investors," Mr Williamson said.

Shares in takeover target Richmond were placed on a trading halt after suitor PPCS issued an acquisition notice.

PPCS' $3.11 a share offer succeeded in building up its stake in the Hawke's Bay meat processor to 97.03 per cent, sparking a compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares.

Richmond shares last traded at 312c.

Today, listed firms Mainfreight, Urbus and Wakefield Hospital hold their annual meetings.

Shares in just listed media firm CanWest MediaWorks were up 2c at 166c, an 8.5 per cent premium on their $1.53 debut price yesterday.

Canadian media giant CanWest Global Communications floated off 30 per cent of its New Zealand television and radio assets by issuing 68 million shares and raising $104 million.

"It's trading on very light volume again today," Mr Williamson said, noting the stock appeared to tightly held.

"You can't get a lot of exposure to this (type of stock) on the New Zealand market," he said.

Shares in insurer Tower were up 6c at 196.

"Once again we've seen new recent highs in Tower on the back of a strong Australian close," Mr Williamson said.

"Our buyers have been a wee bit more cautious (than those in Australia) and we probably won't see a higher price until the Australian market opens," he said.

Market speculation was that a significant Tower shareholder was selling their stake.

Shares on the move so far today included: Affco up 1c at 40, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare up 7c at 1342, Hallenstein Glassons down 5c at 330, NGC Holdings up 3c at 281, Pacific Retail Group down 5c at 205, Lion Nathan down 3c at 762, and F&P Appliances down 3c at 476.

Overseas, the Dow Jones rose 12.83 points to 10,129.90, the Standard & Poor's 500 gained 5.02 points to 1100.44, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 22.80 points at 1881.06.

- NZPA