THE MARKET Index passed 1900

Press, 18 December 1985, Page 39

THE MARKET Index passed 1900

Barclays’ index of Industrial shares — the New Zealand sharemarket’s barometer — jumped through the psychological 1900-barrier yesterday as the pre-Christmas bull run continued with the index touching a new high for the ninth consecutive day. Shares of exporting companies and corporations with overseas income or assets were rerated because of the recent fall of the New Zealand dollar. The lack of sellers and abundance of buyers on brokers’ books could keep the momentum going well into the New Year, said one broker.

The index rose 21.25 points to fly through the 1800 mark to 1919.80 yesterday.

Chase was the biggest improver among the leaders — up 26c to 600, for a rise of more than 200 c in two months. Two other leading

investors also had major gains — Equiticorp up 20c to 420, and Apex, now entrenched among the top 20 companies on market capitalisation, up 15c to 400.

The Auckland manufacturer and exporter, Fisher and Paykel, added 25c for the second day to reach 315.

Other leaders to firm included: Waitaki NZR 10c to 185, Wattie 10c to 350, NZ Forest Products 9c to 247, Goodman 7c to 362, Cable Price Downer 5c to 290, Fletcher Challenge 5c to 355 and Brierley 2c to 824. NZI, down 3c to 187, McConnell Dowell, also down 3c to 125, and Carter Holt Harvey down 2c to 280, moved against the trend. Elsewhere, the rerating of exporters was most marked in Cavalier Elco which added 38c to 190 after recently being down to 145 while the dollar was strong. Cromwell, In which Owens Investments has

been buying shares, finned 30c to 380 with 100,000 shares trading at that price. Owens, which reported an increase in interim profit, added 22c to 230.

Transport North Canterbury rose 20c to 360 after the directors said the company would return to profitability this year. The newspaper publisher, Wilson and Horton, continued its recent gains, with a 20c rise to 670. Invesco, in which the Auckland-based Bexley group is seeking a majority shareholding, spurted 15c to--50.

Omnicorp, the investment company tipped by some brokers to join shareholders Chase and Equiticorp as a future market high-flier, featured in an off-market sale of 1.45 million shares at 135. On market Omnicorp gained 7c to 152. Turnover was solid, with 9.0 million shares trading for $10.9 million.