NZ stocks: Market up despite disrupted session

UPDATE - The sharemarket gained ground today despite an external telecommunications glitch which forced all trading to stop for over an hour this afternoon.


A Telecom network failure led to the market shutting down shortly after 3pm. Trading did not resume until 4.15pm.


Stock exchange operator NZX said its network was not affected, but a number of market participants in the Auckland region were.


Stephen Wright of ASB Securities said the shutdown had not fazed investors.


"When the market reopened there was certainly a backlog of orders and the market might have moved ... up or down a point after that, but it had no impact really," he said.


The benchmark NZSX-50 gross index finished the disjointed session up 9.16 points to 3085.45, while the NZSX-All capital index also shrugged of the disruption to rise 2.23 points to 1014.30.


Telecom's network failure did not provoke a shareholder backlash and the bellwether stock gained 4c to 618.


NZX shareholders also seemed unconcerned, pushing the stock up 7c to 938.


Trading volumes for the truncated session remained robust, with total turnover worth a healthy $112 million. Of the 171 stocks traded today there were 59 rises and 48 falls.


Wrightson fell 1c to 194. The rural services company today posted its takeover offer for Williams & Kettle. The offer, which is conditional on getting 90 per cent acceptance, is either at $4.70 a share, or one Wrightson share plus $2.70 in cash, for each W&K share.


W&K was unchanged at 463.


CanWest MediaWorks was unchanged at 240 after major shareholder CanWest Global Communications said it was not selling Australian broadcaster Ten Network despite recent reports to the contrary.


Healthcare firm Abano Healthcare Group was up 6c at 115 after it today posted a November half net profit after tax of $50,000, against $310,000 in the previous same half.


Mooring Systems gained 10c to 500 on news it was testing a prototype of a new automated mooring system called MoorFender for use in container ports and bulk terminals.


The Warehouse continued to inch its way up, adding 4c to 398. The discount retailer has been steadily regaining ground since it took a dive last week on the back of a profit downgrade.


Other stocks on the move today included: Promina up 19c to 591, Michael Hill Jeweller down 10c at 770, Waste Management up 12c at 592 and Contact Energy down 7c at 648,


- NZPA