NZ stocks: Telecom sparks but Energy dominates

Trading in Fletcher Energy accounted for nearly half the turnover on the sharemarket yesterday.

The soon-to-be-bought Energy closed 8c easier at $8.98, after trading in a 15c range. It was pulled in two directions - the stronger New Zealand dollar dragging it down and a firmer Capstone Turbines underpinning it.

Many investors have decided to take their money now, rather than await the Shell-Apache bid which values the company in US dollars, and there were 6 million shares traded worth $54.5 million - more than half the market's total turnover of $96.4 million.

The other feature was a late flurry of buying in Telecom. It jumped 17c to $5.83. JB Were's Murray Rutherford said the stock rose on the lack of liquidity rather than the speculation of what Telecom was up to in Australia.

Mr Rutherford said the market overall was very patchy outside Fletcher Energy. The NZSE-40 index ended 11.90 points, or 0.61 per cent, ahead at 1972.89 and there were 46 gainers against 57 losers.

The Warehouse slid further, losing 3c to $5.90 and has lost nearly 14 per cent since last week. On Friday, it said it expected difficult trading conditions here and in Australia over the important Christmas period.

Fletcher Forests was steady at 25c, although it did trade up at 26c, while the rights fell 0.2c to 0.2c.

Advantage shares fell a further 7c to $1.38. It fell 9c on Monday after news that major shareholders led by entrepreneur Eric Watson had disbanded Qixel, a company which held shareholdings of Mr Watson and friends in Advantage and related companies, and they had abandoned plans to float it on the Nasdaq.

Air New Zealand As rose 1c to $1.43 and the Bs rose 4c to $1.86 on news that Qantas was lifting fares in Australia, taking pressure off Ansett.

Carter Holt Harvey rose 3c to $1.77 and Lion Nathan fell 10c to $5.60 after shedding its 8Ac dividend.

Nufarm fell 14c to $3.85 after news that Iama had snubbed its bid in favour of a merger with Wesfarmers Dalgety.

Baycorp continued its rough ride of late, falling 40c to $10.55.

Other significant moves included RadioWorks, down 15c to $7.60, Renaissance, up 9c to $1.00, Sky City, down 4c to $7.56, Tower, down 7c to $4.83, and National Mail, up 6c to 55c.

Montana was unchanged at $3.65. It said it had received a restricted transfer notice from Lion Nathan and a subcommittee of independent directors would be formed to assess any possible offer.

- NZPA