NZ sharemarket mildly higher early as Telecom lifts again

By NZPA

Wednesday 24th January 2007

The New Zealand sharemarket started today mildly stronger, just a few points shy of a fresh life high hit yesterday.

Around 10.05am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 2.8 points to 4133.93 and eyeing the latest record high of 4136.5 reached during trading yesterday.

Top stock Telecom was up a further 2c early to $5.13, after also gaining 2c yesterday to reach $5.11, its highest level since the May plunge when the Government announced deregulation plans.

The continuing improvement continued despite GoldmanSachs JBWere saying in a research note that Telecom and Telstra appeared overvalued compared with global rivals.

Investment company Hellaby Holdings added 10c early to $4.23, on top of a 6c gain yesterday, having been pummelled in the previous two sessions after issuing a profit warning late on Friday.

No 2 stock Fletcher Building, long considered a takeover target, slipped 2c early to $10.72, after adding 16c yesterday. Contact Energy was up 1c early to $8.51.

Other early risers included Cavalier up 4c to $3.50, Guinness Peat Group up 1c to $2.53, Port of Tauranga up 5c to $6.00, and Restaurant Brands up 1c to $1.13.

The Warehouse slipped 5c early to $7.13, having hit a high for the year of $7.27 early in January amid continued jockeying for position by possible buyers.

Other shares to make early losses included Calan down 1c to $1.41, Fisher & Paykel Appliances down 3c to $3.89, F&P Healthcare down 1c to $4.32, Hallenstein Glasson down 3c to $5.15, Pumpkin Patch down 5c to $4.90, Ryman Healthcare down 3c to $10.82, Sky City down 1c to $5.35, Sky TV down 2c to $6.25, and Telstra down 4c to $4.90.

US stocks were up, led by shares of oil companies following a jump in crude oil futures late in the session. But concerns about higher energy costs and corporate profits still weighed on investor sentiment.

Stocks had rallied earlier in the session after strong earnings from diversified manufacturer United Technologies Corp. But investors were reluctant to make any big moves before a raft of tech firms' earnings reports due after the closing bell because they were disappointed last week with earnings or outlooks from Intel Corp and Apple Inc.

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