NZ stocks: Telecom perks up market, F&F Healthcare slumps

12.00pm

A 6c lift in market heavyweight Telecom to 497 helped lift the New Zealand market into the positive today.

By 11.30am the NZSE-40 capital index was up 5.00 points to 2069.63. Volume was with 4.7 million shares traded worth $13.6 million.

Countering Telecom's rise, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare slumped 52c, to a new low of 878. It tumbled 45c, or 4.6 per cent yesterday, and today's fall mean it has 10 per cent

Credit Suisse First Boston has changed its recommendation on the stock to sell.

UBS Warburg yesterday had to discount a big line of stock yesterday to get it away and that had a negative influence. Brokers said there was lingering concern about the company's margins and loss of market share. There was heavy turnover worth $3.2 million.

Meanwhile, sister F&P Appliances lost 15c to 930. Because its owns 20 per cent of Healthcare, it loses a cent for every 3c that Healthcare loses. Yesterday it held steady after it said it was making at foray into the European market with its dishdrawer product.

Air NZ was flat on 36c despite concerns that it might need more cash.

The company disputed news reports stating the airline needed a further $670 million to remain viable.

The news reports misinterpreted the content of a November Cabinet paper, released yesterday, on the company's need for an injection of additional capital, company secretary John Blair said in a statement to the stock exchange.

Contact Energy rose 2c to 390 in response to rising wholesale electricity prices and worries about the winter power supply.

Hallenstein Glasson rose another 5c to 275 after this week's strong national retail sales figures. However, The Warehouse fell 6c to 739.

Powerco gained rose 6c to 187. It posted a $33 million profit for the March year earlier today.

Fletcher Building slipped another 4c to 277 while Carter Holt Harvey gained 2c to 188.

ABM Amro broker Nigel Scott said the very strong rise in business confidence had been expected. A NZIER quarterly survey showed a net 23 of optimists in business against a net 10 per cent of pessimists in the previous survey.

There were 38 rises and 21 falls among the 100 stocks traded.

- NZPA