Securities Commission takes aim

Whoever bought a big tranche of shares in the Ports of Auckland and pushed its share price up 5.7 per cent on a day last month when the sharemarket was down 1 per cent is now likely to be in the Securities Commission's gunsights.

The New Zealand Stock Exchange said last night it had forwarded all data and information pertaining to its inquiry last month about "some abnormal trading" in the port company to the commission.

The commission would not comment last night.

On March 18, the exchange issued a "please explain" notice to Ports of Auckland after a spike in its share price and trading volumes that day.

The share price had risen 5.7 per cent to $7. The stock exchange noted 145,255 shares were traded, which it said was significantly higher than the usual volume.

The company responded that it believed it continued to comply with the continuous disclosure listing rule. Andrea Fox