NZ stocks: Telecom's surge lifts market

A sharp rise in Telecom shares to a three-month high boosted the New Zealand sharemarket yesterday, offsetting continued profit-taking on Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.

The NZSE-40 capital index ended the day up 15.9 points, or 0.77 per cent, at 2076.12. The small companies capital index shed 33.8 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 5634.04.

Healthy turnover of 44.53 million stocks, valued at $134.47 million, was headed by Telecom's $34.35 million and F&P Healthcare's $28.15 million.

JBWere broker Rob Josephson said Telecom provided a bright spot for the day, rising 15c to close at a three-month high of $5.12.

" They revealed they're to invest $1 billion in New Zealand on an internet protocol ...

"This vision lies at the centre of Telecom's negotiations with Alcatel, which is likely to see sharing in the technology and ownership risk, so it looks like the potential benefits are quite significant."

Telecom announced a few weeks ago that it was preparing its entry into the "next generation" wireline, involving fixed lines.

Auckland Airport recovered from a patchy performance yesterday to finish up 5c at $3.79, Carter Holt Harvey rose 4c to $1.76, Contact Energy was up 3c at $4.07, Lion Nathan rose 4c to $5.54, and Sky TV was up 7c at $3.65.

Telstra rose 3c to $6.73, The Warehouse piled on another 12c to $6.84 and Horizon Energy was up 20c to $13.30.

Owens Group rose 4c to $1.29 after announcing an 82 per cent jump in interim profit to $2.62 million.

F&P Healthcare fell 39c to $17.61, F&P Appliances lost 5c to $9.25, Baycorp was down 20c at $10.90, casino operator Sky City lost 4c to $6.18, fish exporter Sanford lost 19c to $6.30 and Tranz Rail was down 24c to $4.00 on fairly light volume.

Air New Zealand A and B shares dropped 1c, to 33c and 35c respectively, despite two brokerages putting out dire sell notes.

WestpacTrust lost 15c to $17.95, Tower was down 5c at $5.25, AMP shed 8c to $23.57 and Axa rose 6c to $3.25.

There were 60 falls and 41 rises among the 145 stocks traded.

- NZPA