NZ stocks: Shares little changed in quiet morning trade

12.40pm

The sharemarket traded sideways in a quiet session this morning with little by way of news to provide direction.

At midday, the benchmark NZSX-50 gross index was down 1.86 points to 2857.90 while the NZSX all capital index was down 0.73 of a point at 951.03.

Total turnover by late morning was worth $27.28 million and there were 38 rises and 31 falls among the 125 stocks traded.

The market made a small move upward on opening but that was quickly reversed when top stock Telecom lost 3c to 598.

ABN Amro operator Matt Willis said "There's not a lot going on, there doesn't seem to be momentum as such coming from anywhere".

Mr Willis said yesterday's Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion indicated the economy was motoring near full capacity and inflation remained a concern. However he believed the market had priced in the effect of likely Reserve Bank rate hikes and was relatively unaffected by the news.

Meanwhile, gas pipelines company NGC Holdings was up 3c to 304 after declaring a special dividend of 9 cents a share to use available tax credits before Australian gas Light Co sells its 66 per cent stake to Vector.

Air NZ was up a cent to 164. Yesterday it gained 5c after the Australian Competition Tribunal gave the green light to its proposed alliance with Qantas -- the same tie-up scuttled last month on this side of the Tasman by the High Court.

Other stocks to move included: Feltex up a cent to 157, Michael Hill up 5c to 725, Northport up 10c to 300, Sky City up 3c to 442, Teamtalk up 8c to 278 and Toll NZ was down 5c to 270.

- NZPA