Top-50 index, Auckland Airport retreat from record highs

By NZPA

Monday 7th May 2007

The New Zealand sharemarket zig-zagged today, hitting a record high before retreating to close in negative territory.

Auckland International Airport soared to a high amid reports there had been a failed raid on its share register. However, the airport company said this afternoon it had received no approaches, pushing the share price lower.

"We've seen those stories before, and it looks a little like people have run out of things to say, so we'd better write something about why they're going up - fit the story to the price rather than the other way around," David Price of Forsyth Barr said.

Auckland Airport has been trading at record highs recently, gaining about 16% in the past fortnight. The shares closed up 3c or 1% at $2.69, after hitting a high of $2.82 earlier.

Turnover totalled 2.2 million shares.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index fell 3.7 points to 4202.58, below its record high 4223.28 earlier in the session. Rises outnumbered falls 58 to 47, while turnover totalled $79.9 million.

Top stock Telecom shed 8c to $4.80 amid ongoing uncertainty about its future as the Government tries to boost competition.

"It's pretty hard to make a definitive case about which way to jump at the moment," Price said.

"There's too many possible outcomes for what could happen and there's a lot of vested interest barrows being pushed left, right, and centre."

Fletcher Building was up 2c at $11.52, Contact Energy fell 5c to $8.70, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was flat at $3.75, and F&P Appliances jumped 12c to $3.71.

Air New Zealand rose a cent to $2.85 on heavy turnover of nearly 2 million shares.

"There were a few people panicking, wondering what would be the upshot with the Qantas bid falling over," Price said.

"Air NZ has gone up of their own volition and nothing to do whatsoever with the Qantas bid. They've had an outstanding turnaround."

Ryman Healthcare was up 4c at $2.46, Sky TV gained 3c to $5.90, Mainfreight was up 2c at $7.15, and Guinness Peat Group rose 2c to $2.32.

On the down side, NZ Refining fell 10c to $7.15, The Warehouse was off 9c at $6.76, Sky City was down 2c at $4.82, and NZX fell 10c to $9.90.

Among dual-listed stocks, Lion Nathan fell 5c to $10.25, ANZ rose 3c to $34.18, Westpac was flat at $30.50, and AMP was steady at $12.05.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 0.4% at 6330.6, about five points below its earlier record high, while Japan's Nikkei share average rose 1.5% on a softer yen and Wall Street's gains.

US stocks ended higher on Friday, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to its fourth straight record close, helped by talk of potential takeovers and economic data that calmed inflation concerns.

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