New Zealand sharemarket preview

By ELLEN READ

Sharemarket news and activity will be pushed to the sidelines this week as a glut of economic data and surveys grab the headlines.

Scheduled releases include balance of payments, gross domestic product, merchandise trade, building consents and business and consumer confidence surveys.

However, the week's sentiment will be driven by overseas markets, notably the US, where Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan is expected to cut rates - although opinions vary on whether it will be by 50 or 25 basis points.

Local equity news items which have made it on to the calendar include Thursday's Warehouse shareholder meeting, to seek shareholder approval for an employee share-option scheme which is not controversial.

Under the scheme, option holders would receive a return only if the company's share price outperformed market expectations.

Friday sees the scheduled release of the Commerce Commission's decision on Carter Holt Harvey's application for clearance to acquire the Central North Island Forest Partnership. However, the decision has already been delayed six times, so there is some scepticism about whether it will happen as scheduled.

The main local focus will be on the future of Air New Zealand.

The company has rejected a buy-in proposal from Qantas and wants the Government to let Singapore Airlines "substantially increase" its shareholding through a share placement at $1.31 a share.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen appeared to reject this idea on Friday, although he said the door was still open.