SHAREMARKET Prices lift on modest volume

Press, 30 August 1989, Page 42

SHAREMARKET Prices lift on modest volume

The sharemarket lifted yesterday after a threeday correction. It closed up 20.45 points on the Barclays index at 2360.92. Volume continued to be down from the strong surge of earlier this month, 13.8 million shares trading for a total of $23.8M. A considerable portion of the sales occurred off the market. Rises outnumbered falls a shade less. than two to one.

Industrial Equity Pacific again starred, rising 20c to 370, as speculation continues that Brierley Investments, Ltd, will mop up the minority of the shares it does not own in the Hong Kong-based company. It will be the main vehicle for Sir Ronald Brierley ,in his new roving role. In the three trading days since Sir Ronald announced he was stepping aside as chairman of Brierley Investments, lEP has risen 32c, or 9.4%. It has been rising since the beginning of last month, when it was 266. The gain since then has been 104 c, or 39%. Overnight, Wall Street had risen to a new record high, and is now more than 20 points above the high before last week. That earlier high was two months before the October, 1987, share crash.

In Australia yesterday

the market looked set to continue a bullish trend, and the all-ordinaries index closed 10 points up. Tokyo closed firmer yesterday, too, the Nikkei index up 80.24 points to 34,867.65 in thin trade (about 550 M shares).

Mr Patrick Lee, of United Sharebrokers, said there was return of buying interest in the local sharemarket yesterday. In particular, the shares of Robt Jones Investments, Brierley Investments, and lEP were in demand. Trading levels were moderate, apart from special sales recorded in Bank of New Zealand and Brierley’s.

Private clients were returning slowly to the market as they looked to reinvestment of the cash that was flowing through from recent take-overs. Cash has been received from Brierley’s for Lane Walker Rudkin, and the NZI proceeds are due out, probably about this weekend.

Some smaller companies had been rerated, such as N.Z. Salmon, Lasercorp, and Reid Farmers as investors assess their future prospects, Mr Lee said. Bank of New Zealand shares again topped the market in turnover, 4.8 M selling for $5.6M, and they closed 4c .up at, 122.

More than 2.1 M Brierley shares traded, fetching a total of $5.2M. The

issue closed 6c up at 247. Fletcher Challenge closed 7c up at 547 on sales of 281,000. The two listed Salmon stocks, Regal Salmon and New Zealand Salmon, both rose. Regal Salmon closed 2c up at 102, and N.Z. Salmon closed 5c up at 65. It has risen 21c, or 47%, in a week. The lift follows the company’s $2.4M share placement at 45c this month and the announcement of the sale of a half-share in its Christchurch feed plant to Regal Salmon. Transmark, the engineering firm and con-sumer-electronics distributor formerly known as Moyes and Groves Industries, jumped 10c to 252. A buoyant forecast was given to its annual meeting in Auckland this month.