NZ Stocks: Telecom, Warehouse boost stocks 1.3pc

Telecom rebounded strongly, Air NZ continued its advance, and The Warehouse hit a record high as the New Zealand sharemarket rallied 1.3 per cent yesterday.

The NZSE-40 capital index finished up 27.63 points at 2111.38, despite a soft start. But smaller stocks weakened, and the NZSE-SCI capital index fell 17.26 points to 5416.12.

Turnover was a solid - for a Monday - $93.65 million. Telecom accounted for $48.14 million of that, and Air NZ Bs $3.58 million.

Rises outnumbered falls 56 to 52 among the 150 stocks traded.

Telecom closed up 17c - or 28.5c accounting for an 11.5c dividend - at 655.

"It really was a strong performance from the stock, for once," Cavill White's Don Turkington said.

"It was a phenomenal bounce back, in line with strong telcos in London on Friday."

The stock was wobbly in the later part of last week. Much of its recent trading has been characterised as dividend investors selling to growth investors as the company expands in Australia.

The Warehouse ended up 25c at 615 on talk of an imminent Australian listing.

It reported a 30 per cent increase in July year net profit to $70.05 million, meeting expectations.

The company will pay a 4c dividend.

Air NZ domestic A shares were up 7c at 190 and the Bs surged 19c to 280. Dr Turkington noted the stock had been making gains since its result announcement last week.

The Fletcher Challenge camp was firm on continuing chat about future ownership before full separation of the three remaining divisions.

Building and Energy rose 7c to 232 and 878 respectively, and Forests gained a cent to 85.

Dr Turkington noted the rally took place on a Monday - usually a quiet day - and while the NZSE-40 closed on its highs, today's trading could be affected by the Labor Day holiday in the United States.

Also among the leaders, Auckland Airport rose 1c to 294, Brierley Investments dropped 2c to 41, Carter Holt Harvey rose 3c to 182, Contact Energy was up 1c at 265, INL rose 15c to 400, Lion Nathan dropped a cent to 474, Sky TV also fell a cent to 395, NGC jumped 5c to 160, and Sky City added 2c to 760.

Elsewhere, Tourism Holdings was up 1c at 264 before reporting just after the market's close. New Zealand's biggest tourism company posted a $14.8 million net profit, just down on a prospectus forecast.

Baycorp gained 10c to $13.00, Fisher and Paykel lost 2c to 740, Guinness Peat shed 1c to 156, Montana closed at another record high after rising 9c to 269, and Frucor dropped 6c to 229.

- NZPA