THE MARKET Bearish trend accelerates

Press, 29 May 1985, Page 38

THE MARKET Bearish trend accelerates

The downward trend on the New Zealand share market accelerated yesterday, as falls outnumbered rises about three to one and many blue-chip shares were knocked down, and the Barclays’ index of industrial shares took its biggest nosedive for some time —losing 16.35 points to 1548.86. The turnover of 8.6 million shares was boosted by a special sale of 4.6 million NZOG shares at 50c. The market value of all shares sold was $10.3 million. The only leaders to go against were Farmers Trading Company, up 2c at 155, and ANZ Banking Group, up 1c at 288, after trading at 280 earlier yesterday. The sharemarket opened weak in the morning, and weakened further in the afternoon, said Mr David Dott, of Chamberlain Sturge and Company, Christchurch sharebroker. However, it seemed a little firmer just towards the close of trading, he said. Investors are beginning to appreciate the high interest rates obtainable, Mr Dott said, and the remarks on the economy by Mr Bruce Hancox, chief executive of Brierley Investments, also depressed sentiment. “The market is likely to drift until the budget and the Timaru by-election are out of the w’ay,” he said. Mr des Tombe, of the Wellington broking firm des Tombe Gifford and Company, said that Mr Hancox’s comments, although realistic, were the main cause of the considerably weaker market. Company results in the

coming financial year cannot possibly be as good as they have been, he said. Another Wellington broker said buying support was missing, as the positive sentiment fed by the takeover activity after Easter suddenly changed, with concern being expressed over the economy. “It’s a volatile time for the sharemarket, when movements are more extreme than in the past—but it is the first really bad day the market has had for some time,” he said. Under the circumstances it was perhaps appropriate that Brierley suffered the most among the leaders, shedding 17c to 433, while Carter Holt fell 15c to 280. Down 10c were Goodman to 350, NZ Forest Products to 300 and Progressive Enterprises to 390. Wattie fell 5c to 370, Cable Price Downer 5e to 350, and Dominion Breweries 4c to 208. Fletcher Challenge was as low as 385 c at oue stage but recovered nicely to 395—down 6c on the day. Equiticorp, the glamour company, lost 20c to 205, and its closely-linked associate, Chase, slipped 11c to 395. Montana Wines was down 25c to 140, LD Nathan 12c to 500, McConnell Dowell 8c to 200, and James Hardie Impey 15c to 400. Baker Corp fell 3c to 30c after going exrights and dividend last week. Wenrich continued to rise on speculation about its future, putting on another 10c to 200. Hauraki Enterprises gained the same amount to 90.