THE MARKET Another record for index

Press, 4 July 1985, Page 29

THE MARKET Another record for index

The New Zealand sharemarket continued to ride the buying-reinvestment wave in the wake of the Lion bid, with Barclays’ index of industrial shares at another record high of 1648.47 — up 16,44 points on a volume of 6.8 million shares worth $17.2 million. More than half of the total was accounted for by Lion shares, with most of them selling at 370 c, the new bid price by Tarragon (the investment company owned by two Lion directors) with some changing hands for as much as 372 c. The other brewer, Dominion Breweries, rose 13c to 258 c ahead of its afternoon profit announcement, with an excellent result and a 1:10 bonus issue. ANZ had the best gain of the blue chips, 15c to 305 c, and other leaders among the rises were Progressive Enterprises, up 10c to 325 c, Goodman up 5c to 395 c, Wattie Industries also 5c to 405 c, Farmers Trading Co. 4c to 142 c, Winstone 2c to 167 c, NZ Forest Products 2c to 272 c, Feltex 1c to 275 c, and Fisher and Paykel up lc to 344 c. The falls were led by Brierley Investments, down 4c to 498 c, Fletcher Challenge down 3c to 324 c, both on big volume, and Carter Holt down 3c to 297 c. Other big sales included 660,800 NZI Corp options at 101 c and 202,100 shares in NZ Steel at 285 c. Brokers said there was a possibility of heavy position taking in NZ Steel through Auckland brokers. Manthel Motors, rarely traded, continued to rise,

this time 30c to 700 c, again on small volume, after putting on 70c on Tuesday. Endeavour gained 20c to 200 c. BNZ Finance continued to firm, up 10c to 245 c. Other second liners with 10c rises were John Edmond at 315 c, and Arnold and Wright at 310 c. A reflection of the bullish market were the equity investors, Equitcorp, up 8c to 248 c, and Chase Corp up 12c to 320 c. Ivon Watkins Dow continued to fall, this time 20c to 410 c, while the rarelytraded Baker Corp also dropped 20c to 255 c. The sharemarket was flat out, and the telephones did not stop ringing all day, said Mr Max Mathias, of the Christchurch sharebroking firm Lawrence Milton and Howarth. The market continues to defy gravity, he said, riding on the coat-tails of the Lion bid. Of the heavyweights, Fletchers, Brierley and N.Z.I. Corp have been pegged a little, but both Fletchers and Brierleys had outperformed the market, and were in line for some consolidation, Mr Mathias said. Mr Alfons des Tombe, a Wellington sharebroker said that the sharemarket was remarkably firm, because there was a lot of new money looking for reinvestment. Sellers of Lion and Alex Harvey shares were putting pressure on the heavyweights, with Brierley especially sought after because of good news overseas involving Industrial Equity Pacific, Mr des Tombe said.