NZ stocks: The Warehouse pulls NZ market down

Discounting in discounting retailer The Warehouse pulled the sharemarket down today in otherwise largely featureless trading.

There was a mixed bag among most to the top 50 stocks and only The Warehouse's 15c fall to 449 showed a clear trend.

First NZ Capital broker James Snell said there were continuing concerns about The Warehouse's margins. As well, two large holders were competing to unload stock.

The company, which reports its Christmas quarter result on March 8, has plunged 21 per cent in a month and is off 9 per cent since it reported its Christmas quarter sales.

The NZSX-50 gross index closed down just 0.54 of a point at 2434.25, while the NZSX-40 capital index was off 0.10 at 2244.50.

Much of the attention was across the Tasman where a number of the heavyweight companies reported results, the bulk of which were well received.

Here, Telecom remained well sought, rising 1c to 563 to add to yesterday's 10c gain.

Fletcher Forests closed 2c off at 133 although it was down at 130 after it said rivals Carter Holt Harvey and Norske Skog were suing it over wood supply contracts.

Contact Energy gained 5c to 513 after a bad run recently.

Macquarie Equities' David Cleal said the market was still obviously "in two minds as to whether there's going to be a placement of Edison Mission's 51 per cent Contact stake, or if there's a trade sale on the way -- certainly in recent weeks its been thought the latter".

He believed the stock was currently "a bit oversold" on investor concerns about the company's possible move into Australia.

Ports of Auckland fell 20c to 720 after it reported freight volumes fell 3 per cent in January.

CDL Hotels shares fell 2 cents to 44 cents today while CDL Investments ended 2c lower at 28c after their results.

The country's largest hotel operator, CDL, posted a "respectable" flat profit of $17.03 million for the year while CDL Investments -- 61.5 per cent owned by CDL -- posted a net profit after tax of $6.60 million for the year, compared with $5.99 million for 2002.

NZX, which has risen over 30 per cent this year, eased back 17c today to 745.

Mooring Systems, another of this year's stars, rose another 5c to 275.

Tranz Rail rose 3c to 150 despite it counting the cost of damage from this week's storm.

Fletcher Building gained 1c to 409 and Carter Holt Harvey fell 2c to 188. Housing statistics today indicated that the expected slowdown in the housing market had begun in January.

Other movers included: Independent Newspapers, down 6c to 470, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, up 15c to 1230, TrustPower, down 5c to 695, Westpac NZ, up 8c to 1800, Infratil, up 6c to 270, and Sky TV, down 4c to 509.

Further down the board, medical supplier Ebos which yesterday reported a 40 per cent rise in net earnings for the six months ended December was rewarded by a 13c surge in its share price today to 363. It traded as high as 370.

Turners Auctions, battered hard after its result this week, recovered 10c to 415 today.

Turnover was very light at 25.4 million, worth $65 million, with 47 rises and 50 falls on 138 stocks traded

- NZPA