NZ stocks: Top 50 index nudges into positive despite Telecom weakness

5.50pm

The sharemarket's benchmark index edged into the positive today despite continued weakness in the market heavyweight, Telecom.

Telecom lost another 3c today to end on 581 and has now lost over 6 per cent since its result on August 5. UBS Warburg broker Richard Leggat said the selling was mainly on concern that Telecom's costs had got away on it in the fourth quarter.

The benchmark NZSX-50 gross index closed up 2.96 points at 2737.36 and the NZSX-All capital index rose 0.12 of a point to 919.86.

No 2 stock Carter Holt Harvey closed up 34c at 247, following its capital reconstruction. It closed on a theoretical par following its one-in-four share cancellation at $1.10 each.

Sky TV and Independent Newspaper continued to soar in the wake of last week's announcement of merger talks. The Sky result on Friday was also seen as a strong one. Sky closed up 8c at 550 while INL gained 10c to 512.

The tourism sector had a good run following strong tourism data on Friday. Auckland Airport soared 13c to an all-time high of 735 both on the tourism data and ahead of its result due on Thursday. It eased back at the close to 730 -- 8c up on Friday.

Tourism Holdings, due to report tomorrow, was equally strong, rising 7c to 195. Even Air New Zealand joined the fun despite it suffering from high fuel costs. It announced a new direct flight to Fiji from Wellington. The stock gained 1c to 39c.

Cavalier built on Friday's 4c rise with a 9c gain to 506 after the carpet maker posted a record net profit after tax (npat) of $21.01 million last week.

Jeweller Michael Hill fell back 3c to 655, after gaining 28c on Friday on the back of announcing a 30 per cent hike in net profit.

Other gainers among the top 50 included AMP, 5c to 663, Ryman Healthcare, 4c to 299, ANZ, 15c to 1950, Westpac NZ, 9c to 1723, Contact Energy, 4c to 579, and Waste Management, 3c to 501.

NGC fell 4c to 285 despite announcing that commissioning of a processing and pipeline system for the Kahili field, in onshore Taranaki, had entered its final phase. NGC said the first gas is now flowing through the newly-built

Among the losers were Fisher & Paykel Healthcare 5c to 1315, F&P Appliances, 5c to 420 and fishing company Sanford, 3c to 435.

- NZPA