NZ stocks: Telecom helps push market to one-year high

12.00pm

The sharemarket pushed higher after opening this morning with Telecom weighing heavily on trading.

At 11.30am, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 8.69 points at 2323.87, a fresh one-year high.

The NZSX-40 capital index was up 9.02 points at 2221.06, its highest level since December 23, 1999.

There had been $29.1 million worth of shares traded on volume of 8.8 million.

Among the 103 stocks traded were 35 rises and 21 falls.

Telecom was up 6c at 494, having traded $17.2 million worth on volume of 3.5 million.

ASB Securities head of advisory Stephen Wright said the market was quiet, but firm.

"There's a bit of news out there... I think its a positive market," he told NZPA today.

Today, the Court of Appeal set aside an earlier High Court ruling that Perry Corp was in breach of its disclosure obligations and had to forfeit and sell its shares in Rubicon as a result.

In March, the High Court ruled Perry had not properly disclosed its full interest in Rubicon and must forfeit 12 million shares (4.3 per cent of the company) and sell a further 24 million shares.

That would reduce Perry's stake in the forestry and biotechnology company to 7.2 per cent. Perry appealed the decision.

Trading in Rubicon stock was halted before the decision, it shares last trading at 77 cents.

Shares in Guinness Peat Group, which brought the High Court action, were down 1c at 184.

Mr Wright said it was unlikely the Court of Appeal ruling would have much affect on the share price of either Rubicon of GPG.

In other market news, DB Breweries posted a September year net profit of $25.38 million, up from $22.56 million a year earlier.

The company, whose shares last traded at 765, said it had lifted its final, fully imputed dividend to 20.5 cents per share (cps) from 14.5cps a year ago.

Shares on the rise today included: Air NZ up 1 at 49, AMP Office up 1c at 81, Briscoe Group up 2c at 197, Contact Energy up 2c at 505, Fisher & Paykel Appliances up 10c at 1495, F&P Healthcare up 4c at 1184, Infratil up 2c at 250, and Vertex up 4c at 155.

Among those on the slide were: Auckland International Airport down 1c at 666, 42 Below down 1c at 35, Carter Holt Harvey down 1c at 185, Freightways down 1c at 190, Restaurant Brands down 1c at 133, and Steel & Tube down 1c at 394.

Overseas, the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 35.49 points at 1967.70, the Dow Jones industrial was up 57.34 points at 9858.46, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 8.28 points at 1058.99.

- NZPA