Sharemarket follows Asia, Australia upwards

By NZPA

Friday 29th June 2007

Despite a few mixed performances, the sharemarket steamed ahead today with market leader Telecom at the helm.

Brokers said the local market shrugged off a relatively flat session on Wall St and emulated the firmer Asian and Australian markets.

Stocks were generally up across the board, with the NZSX-50 rising 44.62 points or 1% to 4234.28 on strong volume worth $202 million.

Rises outnumbered falls 70 to 44 on 144 stocks traded.

The market was led by Telecom, up 11c to %4.59 in the wake of yesterday's appointment of BT's Paul Reynolds as CEO.

Air NZ was also in recovery mode, up 6c to %2.64, as the market absorbed the placement of a 4.2% stake by Qantas on Wednesday.

But Pumpkin Patch and Fisher & Paykel Appliances continued to struggle, down 9c to $3.35 and 4c to $3.48.

Goldman Sachs JB Were head of research Peter Sigley said both stocks were currency-sensitive but not all such stocks were reacting equally, including F&P Healthcare up 8c to $3.37 and Michael Hill up 30c to $10.10.

"It would be easy to say that [the currency was the reason] but it's not obvious amongst some of the other stocks that should be impact," Sigley said.

Rail operator Toll NZ gained 17c or 6% to $2.97 after its parent Toll Holdings announced a $3 per share offer for the 6% of the company it does not own.

It said it had already locked in 10% from one minority shareholder, triggering compulsory acquisition of the rest.

Toll has been stymied from taking full control of the New Zealand rail and ferry operator by minority shareholders unhappy with the original offer of $1.10.

Other moves included No 2 stock Fletcher Building, up 5c to $12.35, Contact up 5c to $9.01, Auckland Airport up 8c to $3.28, and Sky City up 7c to $5.08.

The Warehouse crept up 4c to $6.07 after Foodstuffs said it would appeal a competition regulator's ban on its takeover offer.

Healthcare stock Abano rose 16c to $3.45 after upgrading its revenue and profit guidance.

The company said it was expecting full year revenues of between $90-$90.4m, and ebitda of $13.7-$14.1m, as it improved operational performance and integrated recent acquisitions.

Across the Tasman Australian share were up 0.3% in mid-afternoon trading as firmer metals and oil prices lifted resource firms.

In the US, stocks closed little changed after the Federal Reserve said it sees moderate economic growth over coming quarters but signalled it remains concerned about inflation.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 5.45 points to end at 13,422.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.63 of a point to finish at 1505.71. But the Nasdaq Composite Index added 3.02 points, or 0.12%, to 2608.37.

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