NZ stocks: Telecom drags a lacklustre sharemarket lower

The sharemarket lost ground this morning with both major indices pulled down by a slip in the share price of bourse heavyweight Telecom.

At 11.30am, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 2.47 points at 2337.40, while the NZSX-40 capital index was down 1.91 points at 2224.58.

There had been $10.3 million worth of stocks traded on volume of 3.8 million.

Telecom shares were down 2c at 502, having traded $2.7 million worth on volume of 526,483.

ASB Securities broker Andrew Kelleher said the dip in Telecom's share price had probably contributed to the market's dip this morning.

He also believed a number of factors were contributing to the fall in Restaurant Brands shares, which were down 3c at 111.

Restaurant Brands yesterday issued a $2 million profit downgrade, blaming it on its fried chicken chain, KFC.

"Their recent announcements were probably below market expectations, and there is this concern now over increasing (fast food) competition in the domestic market," he told NZPA today.

"It's always been a dividend stock as opposed to a growth story so it's probably never going to set the world on fire.

"But it looks as if the market is re-rating it on the basis of its ability to counter increasing competition."

Restaurant Brands shares were issued in 1997 at 220 each.

Meanwhile, Mr Kelleher expected Air New Zealand shares to remain unchanged at 46c until it was clear whether the airline would appeal the Commerce Commission's ruling against its proposed alliance with Qantas.

Shares on the rise included: ANZ up 10c at 1910, Briscoe Group up 2c at 173, Contact Energy up 1c at 531, Fisher & Paykel Appliances up 2c at 370, F&P Healthcare up 5c at 1195, Promina up 7c at 377, and Tower up 3c at 135.

Among those on the slide were: AMP down 5c at 681, Carter Holt Harvey down 2c at 186, Ebos down 4c at 330, Owens down 2c at 109, Sanford down 3c at 520, Vertex down 3c at 150, and The Warehouse down 3c at 577.

There had been $9768 worth of shares traded on the New Zealand Alternative Exchange so far this morning.

Overseas, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 81 points to 9706, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 10 points at 1044, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 22 points at 1903.

- NZPA