SHAREMARKET Prices drift further

Press, 22 January 1988, Page 22

SHAREMARKET Prices drift further

Th* sharemarket extended its losses yesterday as prices drifted lower with the Barclays index of industrial shares sliding a further 14.07 to 1948.15 — not far from the post-crash low of 1930.14 posted just before Christmas. The NZSE capital index fell 5.59 points to 687.96, and falls outnumbered rises two to one. Trading activity, although still low, again picked up a little, as 7.7 million shares changed hands for only $7.0 million — an average of 90c a share. Brokers said the 57 point fall on Wall Street oyernight was not fully reflected in the local market, but one commented, “It did not help investor confidence either.” He and others said the market was likely to drift in the short term. The news of Charter Corp’s receivership did not help sentiment either, though its capitalisation is so small it did not affect the index directly. “There is no great de-

sire to sell, just a little nervousness,” brokers Jarden and Company said. Brierleys were a little weaker, but there is solid support for the share around 150 c, and Fletchers and Goodman Fielder were unchanged,” he added. However, the market picked up a little In the afternoon session. However, trading was dull, and price movements left little to cheer about either. Brierley Investments shed 7c to 150, Equiticorp Holdings 4c to 150, Robt Jones Investments 3c to 108, Bank of NZ 2c to 130, and Chase Corporation 1c to 98. The falls included a 10c drop by Magnum, to 433 and a 5c cut in the price of fellow brewer Lion Corp to 615. L. D. Nathan lost 10c to 610. Charter Corp dropped 5c to 5, on a turnover of 100,000 shares, after, its receivership announcement on Wednesday evening. Euro-National Corp lost 2c to 40 despite the

favourable news that it had repaid early a debt to McConnell Dowell, Kupe also shed 2c to 50, lEP and Renouf Corp each eased 1c to 150 and 46. Also 1c lower were Barclays at 35, Wellesley at 84, and Wilson Nelli at 74, NZ Equities dropped 2c to 120, while Capital Markets lost 3c to 114 and Crown slumped 8c to 32. Progressive Enterprises and Smiths City Group both lost sc, to 380 and 85. The most notable rise was for NZ Forest Products, which closed at 300. The stock has started to recover since its merger with Elders Resources became clearer. Other rises were concentrated on the second liners, including Welgas Holdings, up 10c to 420. Also against the trend went two local stocks — LWR rose 5c to 130 and Amuri gained 2c to 52. March share prices index futures fell sharply to a low of 1850 before rallying to 1876 from their close on Wednesday of 1910.