NZ stocks: Telecom, Fletcher Building find support

The sharemarket eased slightly yesterday, having closed in positive territory for almost a fortnight .

The NZSE-40 Capital Index fell 4.77 points, or 0.24 per cent, at 1972.63, while the small companies' NZSE-SCI Capital Index closed up 29.62 points at 5031.49.

Shane Gavegan of Deutsche Securities said bargain hunters appeared to have entered the market, and companies such as Telecom and Fletcher Building had found good support.

"Telecom was the main driver - up 1c, it reached a high of 599 before closing at 590, up slightly from its low," Mr Gavegan said.

"There are still a lot of people believing the NTT DoCoMo story, and there is further speculation Telecom is talking with the Cable and Wireless executives."

"You're seeing a lot of positive bias on that stock, although there is a lot of selling and that got more aggressive in the afternoon. Telecom held up well while the Nasdaq was down," he said.

Fletcher Energy closed down 15c at 860 after US company Capstone Turbine, of which Energy is the largest shareholder, filed to sell one million shares. Energy announced after the market closed that it may sell up to 650,000 Capstone shares.

Tranz Rail made a widely expected after-market announcement of a loss for the first quarter, largely due to one-off restructuring costs. Before announcing the $16.4 million loss Tranz Rail closed down 10c at 360 on very light volume - 7700 shares.

Steel and Tube closed up 2c at 134 on high volume valued at $3.88 million after a crossing of 3 million shares at $1.20, 14c below the market close.

"There were good levels of support in Telecom and Building was another, it was a cautious approach but there is a change of sentiment going through the market," Mr Gavegan said.

Fletcher Building closed up 2c at 198 and Forests closed down 2c at 35. Auckland Airport was down 9c at 292 and Frucor also shed 9c to 203.

On the up side, Telstra rose 10c to 825, Montana gained 5c to 320, ANZ was up 15c at $18.60 and Cavalier gained 10c to 430.

- NZPA