NZ stocks: Telecom buzz dies down, market eases

12.00 pm

Strong buying in Telecom yesterday eased today, leading the sharemarket down a little this morning

Just after 11am, the NZSE-40 capital index was down 3.26 points to 2074.52 on a skinny $27 million turnover.

"People are taking stock today, the offshore markets were relatively flat with Dow Jones being down 48, so no real leads from offshore," Phillip Hunter, a director at First NZ Securities, said.

Telecom dominated about a third of the trade, falling 2c to 498 after a 17c rise yesterday. The rise was viewed as a correction on an earlier fall, as rumours hit the market that major shareholder Verizon was having trouble selling down its stake.

Elsewhere in the market, Utilico rose 9c to 79. Earlier this week the Stock Exchange said it was satisfied with an explanation from the company for a rapid share price fall. Utilico's share price dropped by 29c to 71c a share between February 5 and March 1.

Utilico said that during that period, one of its investments, Australian smart card company ERG, had warned it was likely to make a substantial loss.

Natural Gas rose 2c to 125 despite a poor result from its majority owner Australian Gas Light Co. AGL announced a drop in first-half net income by 60 per cent, but analysts said the New Zealand business was recovering well after exiting the retail electricity sector.

Other movers included Port of Tauranga, up 10c to 785; Cube Capital up 4c to 44; Sky City down 6c to 589, and Steel & Tube down 4c to 261. Auckland Airport fell 6c to 417 after a recent strong run, and solid trade in the Warehouse saw it rise 1c to 656.

So far there have been 28 rises and 20 falls on 97 stocks traded.

On Wall St, stocks broke with their recent rally as investors worried that interest rates would rise on positive economic forecasts.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average slid 48.92 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 10,525.37, while the Nasdaq composite fell 8.77 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 1881.63. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 dropped 5.23 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 1157.54.

- NZPA