Telecom drags NZ sharemarket down early

By NZPA

Friday 30th March 2007

Top stock Telecom dragged the New Zealand sharemarket lower in early trade today.

By five minutes after the market's 10am opening, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 10.25 points to 4102.31.

Leading the slide, Telecom shed 6c early on turnover of 4.2 million to $4.67, adding to a 3c fall yesterday.

Utilities investor Infratil shares were down 1c to $5.65 after the company announced it had acquired options to move to 100% ownership of Victoria Electricity.

Production line maker Scott Technology was unchanged on $2.15 early after yesterday reporting a February half year net profit of $1.2 million compared with a loss of $933,000 a year ago.

No 2 stock Fletcher Building reversed its fall yesterday with an early 7c gain to $11.10, adding to a recovery in recent weeks by many of the larger companies on the exchange.

Adding to a 3c gain yesterday, Auckland Airport was up 1c to $2.44, while Air NZ, which also gained 3c yesterday, was up another 2c to $2.34.

Contact Energy added 3c to its 2c lift from yesterday to be at $9.15, while Vector was up a further 2c, after adding 3c yesterday, to $3.00.

Other early share price moves included Cavalier up 1c to $3.40, Mainfreight up 1c to $7.21, Michael Hill up 5c to $9.10, Pumpkin Patch up 1c to $4.33, Telstra up 3c to $5.17, and Tower down 2c to $2.26.

In the US, blue chips ended higher as investors scooped up large-cap, defensive stocks such as Altria Group Inc, against a backdrop of mounting global tensions.

The Nasdaq was nearly unchanged as a rally in biotechnology shares was offset by profit warnings from the semiconductor sector.

Stocks had started the session on a high note after government reports that showed the economy grew faster than previously thought at the end of 2006 and that fewer people than expected filed for state unemployment insurance for the first time last week.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 48.39 points, or 0.39%, at 12,348.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed up 5.30 points, or 0.37%, at 1422.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished up 0.78 points, or 0.03%, at 2417.88.

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