Forum Archive Index - March 2000

[Craig Beavis <cbeavis@methven.net>]

Kevin,

Here is a copy of today's DFM email report.

Regards,

Craig

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NEW ZEALAND STOCKS, WELLINGTON, March 8 (Reuters)
     New Zealand shares showed good resistance to substantial falls in 
overseas markets to close only marginally lower on Wednesday, despite some 
pressure on leading stock Telecom.

   The NZSE-40 Index ended down 4.81 points at 2,021.25 on turnover of 
NZ$143 million, of which the lion's share was in Telecom.

   Overnight, substantial falls were seen in both the Dow  and the
Nasdaq , with Australia's All Ords  down nearly one percent in afternoon 
trading.

   Having been bid up in recent days on the back of positive sentiment 
surrounding fellow regional telco Telstra , Telecom came under selling 
pressure and saw some profit taking, brokers said. It slipped 16 cents to 
NZ$8.94 on turnover worth NZ$93.9 million.

   Shares in Telstra also fell in both Australia and New Zealand despite a 
strong first-half profit of A$2.09 billion that was ahead of expectations. 
In New Zealand, Telstra shares closed down 30 cents at NZ$10.30.   Some 
analysts and brokers had hoped Telstra would detail plans to spin-off some 
its high-tech and Internet assets.   "The big question now is, can Telecom 
maintain this momentum, or will it get sold off and have a look at those 
lower figures again?", one broker said.

   Other falls were seen in Sky TV, down 10 cents to NZ$3.90 on what one 
broker said was some profit taking, and a nine cent fall in Contact Energy 
to NZ$2.76, related to the woes of parent company Edison International.

   Brokers said the government's Budgetary Policy Statement released on 
Wednesday afternoon had been largely as expected and had had little impact 
on the share market.

   Stocks in positive territory included Fletcher Energy, boosted by some 
good company specific news.   The possibility of a viable gas find off the 
New Zealand coast and the recognition of a potentially valuable stake in a 
U.S. energy company contributed to a 25 cent rise to NZ$4.85 in Fletcher 
Energy's share price, brokers said.

   Australia's AMP was also stronger on news of an impending merger in the 
Australian financial services industry.   AMP, talked of by the market as a 
possible takeover target for National Australia Bank, gained NZ$2.10 to 
NZ$19.70, up nearly 12 percent.   However, later in the day AMP chief 
executive Paul Batchelor told a New Zealand media briefing in Wellington he 
could see little sense in merging with a bank.

   Investment company Guinness Peat Group rose three cents to NZ$1.36 on 
moderate volume of 400,000 shares after announcing a record year profit and 
plans to exchange some of its shares for convertible notes.

  "It's interesting... They're actually looking to buy back 40 percent of 
their stock with a note giving people the option of having a fixed interest 
investment for a while and still have exposure to the company, while the 
company still gets the use of the funds," said ABN Amro head dealer Nigel 
Scott.   "It's a relatively novel approach -- I think probably it increases 
the value for the people that stay on there, but we'll just have to wait 
and see."



NEWS ROOM - NZ.
http://www.newsroom.co.nz/



AUSTRALIAN STOCKS, SYDNEY, March 8 (Reuters)
    Australian shares managed on Wednesday to fight off more gloomy news 
from Wall Street, closing down only one percent compared with a 3.7 percent 
fall in the Dow Jones industrial average on Tuesday.

    The market instead took its inspiration from a widely mooted A$8 
billion to A$9 billion bid for bancassurance group Colonial Ltd by 
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which sparked speculation other insurance 
groups and regional banks would become takeover targets.

    The benchmark All Ordinaries Index closed down 32.5 points at 3,218.5, 
but had slipped as low as 3,201.2 during the session.   "This (CBA and 
Colonial) has put all the insurance companies and regional banks into 
play," said Dicksons analyst Michael Heffernan.

    Life insurance and funds management giant AMP was the outstanding 
performer on the day, rallying A$1.162 or about eight percent to A$15.77. 
   "There has been speculation for some time that National Australia Bank 
 would take over AMP and the regional banks are all targets," said Ord 
Minnett director of institutions Eric Gale.

    However, AMP chief executive Paul Batchelor told a media briefing in 
New Zealand on Wednesday that AMP saw little merit in merging with a bank.

    Trading in Colonial and CBA shares has been halted pending the release 
of an announcement.

    The other big story on Wednesday was that Australia's leading telco 
Telstra Corp posted a 15 percent rise in first half net profit to A$2.09 
billion, compared with market expectations of A$1.93 billion.

    The group is still targeting double-digit full year earnings growth, 
plans to cut costs by A$650 million, and is talking to media groups to 
bolster its Internet sites with strong content. It is also mulling spinning 
off some divisions.

    But Telstra shares closed down 50.1 cents at A$8.209 while its 
instalment receipts were knocked down about eight percent to A$5.23. 
    "The stock was supported (earlier in the week) by overseas investors 
because it is relatively cheap compared with overseas telcos and then it 
has been sold down on the result. But there is nothing out of the ordinary 
about the result," Commonwealth Bank equities researcher Caroline Eganshe 
said.    She said Telstra's net operating profit was in line with CBA's 
forecast while the dividend of eight cents was ahead of CBA's forecast of 
7.5 cents.

    Seven Network was another strong performer, finishing up 55.1 cents or 
8.3 percent at A$7.158. Brokerage Salomon Smith Barney specialled about 2.7 
million shares at A$7.15.

    Ord Minnett's Gale said the television broadcaster's interim profit 
released on Tuesday was one of the strongest it had posted for years. 
However, he said investors seemed to be looking for more strategic news.

    Elsewhere, Australia's largest retailer Coles Myer  on Wednesday posted 
a seven percent rise in net profit after abnormals to A$294.5 million for 
the 26 weeks to January 23. The company said it expected to report a full 
year profit of up to A$485 million.    Coles' shares closed down 11 cents 
at A$6.36.

    Turnover on the wider market was A$1.6 billion.

    Declining stocks outpaced advances by a ratio of four to three, while 
about 19 percent of stocks traded remained steady.



AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
http://www.afr.com.au/




US STOCKS, NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters)
(The DOW Jones is UP 107 points to 9903 at 8.40am NZ time)

     U.S. stock indexes pulled a switcheroo at midday on Wednesday with the 
blue chips advancing for a change after Wall Street decided a broad 
sell-off had gone too far while technology issues retreated on 
profit-taking.

   The strength in "old economy" stocks like transportation companies came 
as oil prices backed off highs, which had contributed to a selling frenzy 
amid fears that sharply higher interest rates would be needed to ward off 
inflation.   "It looks like the Dow stocks are developing some support," 
said Charles Payne, head analyst at Wall Street Strategies. "But there are 
still so many questions about what the Federal Reserve is going to do with 
interest rates. On the Nasdaq, I think this is just a case of additional 
profit-taking."

   The Dow Jones industrial average gained 29 points, or 0.30 percent, to 
9,825, a day after it slid 374 points on heavy volume to hit its lowest 
level in nearly a year.   Despite the bounce, analysts said the same 
concerns about old-economy stocks withering in a higher interest-rate 
environment continued to haunt the 30-stock index.

   In particular, some financial services stocks were hurt after Fed 
Chairman Alan Greenspan said he was worried that many U.S. banks seemed to 
think the current good economic times will last forever, causing laxness in 
their lending.

   American Express Co. fell 2-15/16 to 123-1/4 and Citigroup Inc was down 
1/8 at 50-1/4.   On Tuesday, a profit warning from consumer products giant 
Procter & Gamble Co. <PG.N>, a classic old-line stock, sent the Dow 
tumbling 3.7 percent, driving the blue-chip index deeper into correction 
territory.

   Leading the Dow higher on Wednesday was Johnson & Johnson, which rose 
3-13/16 to 70-13/16.

   The Nasdaq Composite Index, rife with "new economy" technology, 
biotechnology and telecommunications stocks, had been up more than 1 
percent, but turned lower as investors cashed in on a run-up that had 
driven the index briefly past the magic 5,000 barrier shortly after 
Tuesday's opening.

   The Nasdaq was off 58 points, or 1.20 percent, at 4,789. Semiconductors 
slumped, with the Philadelphia Stock Exchange's semiconductor index off 
3.81 percent. Among the losers was Intel Corp. , the world's largest chip 
maker, which eased 3-1/16 to 112-11/16.

   The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 2 points, or 0.21 
percent, to 1,358. The Russell 2000 small-cap index gave up 9 points, or 
1.52 percent, to 586.

   The market's stomach-churning volatility intensified on Monday on 
remarks from Greenspan and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman 
Arthur Levitt about a too-hot economy and overextended investors.   "The 
Dow is so oversold I wouldn't be surprised to see a snap-back rally," said 
Arnie Owen, the managing director of capital markets at Roth Capital 
Partners in Newport Beach, Calif.

   Dow component Procter & Gamble, the maker of Tide detergent and Crest 
toothpaste, opened 1 point higher, but was down 1-5/8 at 58-3/8 a day after 
it lost 31 percent of its value when it said it would fall far short of 
earnings expectations, due in part to rising costs it was unable to pass on 
to consumers.

   Transport stocks such as airlines were up solidly after OPEC powers 
Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed in talks on Wednesday that oil producers 
should provide adequate and timely supplies to cool red-hot prices.   The 
price of a barrel of crude for delivery in April softened to $32.98 on the 
New York Mercantile Exchange after topping $34 in the previous day's 
trading.   The Dow Jones Transportation Average rose 2.65 percent and UAL 
Corp, the parent of United Airlines, was up 7/8 at 47-7/8.

   On the New York Stock Exchange, decliners were beating advances 5 to 4 
with 703 million shares changing hands. There were 35 stocks hitting new 
highs and 213 hitting new lows.   Pharmaceutical and retail drug stocks 
were also up, as semiconductor, gold, personal care, natural gas and oil 
driller stocks were down.

   The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond inched up 1/32 with a yield at 6.14 
percent, a notch below Tuesday's close 6.15 percent, while the 10-year note 
was flat, yielding 6.37 percent.



UK STOCKS, LONDON, March 8 (Reuters)
     Leading London shares dropped for the second straight session on 
Wednesday, shedding nearly one percent as gains made by oil issues 
disappeared in the face of losses in media and telecoms stocks.

   London's blue chip index slipped 55.3 points or 0.86 percent to 6,411.2 
on moderate volume of two billion shares traded by the official 1630 GMT 
close.

   Losers outstripped the gainers by four to one, with the FTSE 100's top 
ten losers all dropping more than six percent.

   Biotechnology and IT stocks on the FTSE techMARK 100 index took a 
hammering as the fledgling indicator ended 3.4 percent lower at 5,413.82, 
not helped by the 1.2 percent loss to New York's Nasdaq at the time of 
London's close.

   New York's Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.6 percent as official 
London trade concluded, having slipped into the red from a positive start 
following cautionary remarks by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan 
Greenspan.

   The central banker expressed worry that many U.S. banks seemed to think 
the current good economic times would last forever, causing them to get 
excessively lax in their lending.   "I wouldn't say there's been 
across-the-board selling, it's more that there's not been a great deal of 
bidding," said the head of trading at a leading European brokerage.

     FTSE 100 losses came despite a 58-point fillip from London's two oil 
giants BP Amoco and Shell Transport, which moved ahead on crude oil price 
rises to nine-year highs.

   That was not enough to stem losses among telecoms, media, computer 
software and pharmaceuticals and stocks, which together knocked off more 
than 70 points from the main index.

   The biggest points deduction came courtesy of mobile telecoms company 
Vodafone Airtouch, which slipped 1.7 percent to shave nearly 18 points from 
the index.   News and information group Reuters topped the list of FTSE 100 
percentage losers, dropping nearly 11 percent, while new top flight index 
member Kingston Communications Plc fell nearly 10 percent, both reversing 
recent strong gains on profit-taking, dealers said.

   Another suffering profit-taking was broadcaster BSkyB, down 6.4 percent 
to 19.85 pounds having touched an all-time high of 22.75 pounds on Tuesday.

   BSkyB shares have been the best year-to-date performers in the FTSE 100, 
up 114 percent since the start of January, marginally ahead of Reuters, 
based on Tuesday's closing price.




Emy De La Mare
D.F Mainland Securities Limited
Private Bag 99912, Newmarket, Auckland, New Zealand
Phone : 64-9-307-9066, Facsimile : 64-9-307-3391
E-mail : clientservices@dfmtrade.com
Website : http://www.dfmtrade.com

cbeavis@methven.net


> -----Original Message-----
> From: kevin.young@gfmb.co.nz [SMTP:kevin.young@gfmb.co.nz]
> Sent: Thursday, 9 March 2000 15:05
> To:   sharechat@sharechat.co.nz
> Subject:      Re: [sharechat] Contact Energy
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Michael
> 
> Can you email me a copy of the DFM daily email report.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Kevin
> 
> 
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