NZ sharemarket slips early

Thursday 17th February 2011

The New Zealand sharemarket fell in early trade as key stock Telecom dropped 4c.

The drop in the Telecom (NZX: TEL ) share price to $2.19 came after the announcement network company Vector was being added to the prioritised negotiations for the Government's ultra fast broadband initiative in the Auckland area. Previously Telecom was the only company to be at that stage in Auckland.

Vector (NZX: VCT ) shares were up 3c to $2.53 in early trading.

Shares in Abano Healthcare (NZX: ABA ) gained 5c to $4.45, after sinking to a 21-month low $4.40 yesterday.

The Abano board said it was not aware of any material information that had not been disclosed to the market, nor was it aware of any reason for the fall in share price from $4.95 on February 3.

Around 10.15am today the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 1.32 points top 3383.16, having lost 5.6 points yesterday.

OceanaGold (NZX: OGC ), which earlier this week reported a lift in its South Island reserves, gained 23c to $3.90, while NZ Refining Co (NZX: NZR ) regained the 8c it lost yesterday, to be at $5.18 early.

Sky TV (NZX: SKT ) lifted 5c to $5.45, Mainfreight (NZX: MFT ) lifted 3c to $8.15, Hallenstein Glasson (NZX: HLG ) was up 3c to $3.91, and Pumpkin Patch (NZX: PPL ) was up 2c to $1.47, while Freightways (NZX: FRE ) lost 2c to $3.35.

In the US, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed at twice its value from just two years ago, a bounce with vigour not seen since the Great Depression.

Stocks were boosted by Dell earnings and deal announcements fuelling hope for more gains, but light volume made the recent move more tenuous.

Based on the preliminary data, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.5% to 12,288.17, the S&P 500 gained 0.6% to 1336.27, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.8% to 2825.56.

NZPA

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