SHAREMARKET Another booming day’s trading

Press, 9 February 1989, Page 23

SHAREMARKET Another booming day’s trading

Another booming day’s trading on the New Zealand sharemarket yesterday saw the Barclays index of industrial shares jump 34.90 points to 2076.01, less than 10 points below last year’s post-crash high of 2085.23. The NZSE gross index did proportionately less well, closing at 750.91 — up 7.69 points for the day, almost all of it gained in the morning session. The market opened on a strong note after record performances by overseas markets: Wall Street had surged ahead 26 points while the Tokyo stockmarket set an all-time high with a 62 point rise to 31,880. Goodman Fielder Wattle, Fletcher Challenge, and Elders NZFP all benefited from strong foreign interest, with the shares rising 16c to 320, 5c to 538, and 7c to 340. Brierley Investments was again well traded, with 7.3 million shares

changing hands and the price recovering 2c to 161. Chase Corporation recovered from the last few days’ rumour-mongering, and put on 3c to 101. It had the second-highest turnover, at 6.3 million. Mr Kerry Porter, of the Christchurch office of Forsyth Barr, said that post-crash highs on the Tokyo, London and Wall Street bourses overnight, and a slight weakening of the New Zealand dollar resulted in further buying pressure on the leaders in our sharemarket yesterday. “Reaction to the proposal from Carter Holt Harvey to raise $3OO million by way of a convertible note issue was favourable, with the stock being marked up 16c during the day.. The move, if approved by shareholders, would effectively remove any debt associated with the Caxton purchase off the balance sheet.

“Goodman Fielder Wattie also performed well, particularly as the Australian market remained depressed by very firm interest rates and an appreciating dollar. "Off-market transactions continued to account for the majority of turnover,” Mr Porter said. More than 25 million shares changed hands for $38.7 million. Rises outnumbered falls two to one. Elsewhere among the leaders, Fisher and Paykel recovered 8c to 370, lEP edged up 1c to 247, and Lion Nathan put on 3c to 290. NZI Corporation slipped 1c to 59, and Wilson Neill 1c to 69. Newspaper Shares were in demand, with Wilson and Horton up 10c to 615 and Independent Newspapers up 5c to 380. Banks were easier on balance: ANZ fell 8c to 762, and Bank of New Zealand slipped 1c to 133, but Countrywide firmed 5c to 207.