NZ stocks: Telecom and Nathan slip in heavy trade

The sharemarket closed August in frantic style, with yesterday's turnover totalling an active $234.3 million as indices rebalanced, said Merrill Lynch institutional desk director Matthew Rose.

He described the tone of the market as busy, with market giant Telecom - which comprises a third of the sharemarket's value - the main contributor to yesterday's heavy volume.

The NZSE-40 Capital Index fell 8.36 points (0.40 per cent) to 2093.42.

Telecom fell 17c to 651 on 13.1 million shares worth $86.3 million.

"Telecom is still tending to be weaker on the back of the general telco sector weakness," said Mr Rose.

Lion Nathan also weakened, closing 4c lower at 466 on turnover of 12.9 million shares worth $60.2 million.

Fletcher Energy continued as the star of the sharemarket, rising 20c to a new record of 895 on 4.1 million shares worth $36.6 million

However, Forests was unchanged at 82, while Building lost 4c to 222.

Energy gained on the back of strengthening world oil prices and Wednesday's positive group result, Mr Rose said.

Fletcher Challenge formally reported a $382 million net profit for the June year, compared with $101 million the previous year.

Mr Rose said Air New Zealand shares rallied, also on the back of a positive result, the As closing 5c higher at 180 and Bs gaining 16c to 246.

Also on the positive side of the ledger, GDC and Radioworks both rose 10c to 470 and 810 respectively, while The Warehouse closed 9c higher at 594 and Sky TV strengthened 6c to 383.

Both INL and Tower rose 5c to 395 and 510 respectively, Tranz Rail was up 4c at 385 and Contact gained 3c to 258.

Losing ground was Frucor, which closed 12c weaker at 215, Fisher & Paykel fell 5c to 745 and Carter Holt Harvey closed 1c lower at 184.

Falls outnumbered rises only slightly - 53 to 52 - among the 160 stocks traded.

- NZPA