NZ stocks: Trading on NZX marred by technical problems

6.40pm


The New Zealand sharemarket finished on a positive note after a day marred by technical problems, a broker said.

At 4.30pm, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 0.14 points at 2434.00, while the NZSX-40 capital index was up 0.09 points at 2262.67.

The New Zealand Exchange started trading at 1.30pm after problems with its share registry computer system.

"NZX is satisfied that the difficulties experienced by Computershare Investor Services Ltd have been resolved," NZX said in a statement this afternoon.

It later issued an apology to the market for the closure.

ABN Amro Craigs retail advisor Bryon Burke said he was surprised NZX had decided to open the market late.

"The market could have kept trading and no one would have been any the wiser," he told NZPA today.

"Discretionary decisions like that should not be made by the exchange."

Meanwhile, trading was slim with just $20.6 million worth of shares traded on volume of 7.2 million.

Among the 111 stocks traded were 34 rises and 31 falls.

Shares in market heavyweight Telecom were down 1c at 532 after it today confirmed it would raise the price of its residential lines by 1.5 per cent from February.

Residential line costs for most parts of the country would increase 55 cents to $39.85 a month.

In Wellington and parts of Christchurch, where rival TelstraClear offers local services, the increase would be 45 cents to $32.85 a month.

Increasing internet usage was putting pressure on costs and was the reason for the increase, Telecom said.

Shares on the rise included: Auckland International Airport up 4c at 692, Carter Holt Harvey up 2c at 190, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare up 12c at 1252, F&P Appliances up 4c at 385, Genesis Energy up 2c at 104, and Vending Technologies up 7c at 111.

Among those of the slide were: Contact Energy down 3c at 540, Independent Newspapers Ltd down 2c at 496, Lion Nathan down 4c at 681, Promina down 7c at 375, and Telstra down 3c at 542.

There had been $11,840 worth of shares traded on the New Zealand Alternative Exchange so far today.

Overseas, the Dow Jones closed up 19.48 points at 10,324.67, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 1.85 points to 1095.89, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 3.91 points to 1973.14.

- NZPA