THE MARKET Prices up in thin trading

Press, 28 January 1986, Page 23

THE MARKET Prices up in thin trading

The closure of the Auckland Stock Exchange because of that region’s anniversary day took its toll on trading on the New Zealand sharemarket yesterday.

Volume was well down — only 1.8 million shares were traded — and there were quite a few gaps in the sharemarket list

Prices were slightly firmer as the Barclays industrial index rose 4.50 points to 1885.63, and rises just shaded falls, 35 to 33.

Mr Richard Boulton, research analyst for Hamilton, Hindln, Greene, the Christchurch broker, said that “steady” was the watchword of trading yesterday on a moderately active turnover.

The market did not react to the Government tender rates announcement on Friday, having largely anticipated what was in store.

The market leaders were mixed, a large number of them either steady or untraded. Brierley rose 2c to 700 c to help the industrial index along, as did Equiticorp on its 7c gain. However, Apex Group lost 5c to 355 c and NZI Corporation dropped 1c to 163 c. Big issues such as Chase Corporation, Carter Holt, Fletcher Challenge, Goodman Group, and NZ Forest Products were all unchanged.

Goliath dominated the news on the exchange because of its announce-

ment that it had stopped goldmining. The West Coast issue lost 2c to 10c, and the closing quotations on the Christchurch Invercargill Stock Exchange were buy, 10c; sell, 12c. The issue was prominent at the beginning of the month of a jump to 22c in the first day of trading. No reason could be given for such a big gain, although Goliath had been holding talks with an Australian company on mining licences.

The mining and oil sector helped the turnover along, particularly the trading of 477,000 Petro Taranaki options at 12c for a 1c loss. The Barclays mining index was down 2.5 points to 170.11.

The thoroughbred

issues remained mixed in spite of the big prices being paid at last week’s national yearling sales at Trentham. Australasian Breeding, Blandford Lodge, and Waikato Stud all lost ground, Ra Ora was steady, and Thoroughbred Holdings firmed 2c to 80.

Dingwall and Paulger jumped 8c to 325, the new price being offered by Orange Peel Investments, which has made a take-over bid for the Christchurch grocery merchant, and also by Brierley Investments, which holds 13.4 per cent of the grocery company.

Second-liners showed a wider swing in price changes. Angus Corporation lost 20c to 160 c and Lane’s Industries 15c to 130 c.