KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket gave up some of its earlier gains as it felt the pressure from a weaker Australian market, but still managed to close up
0.9 per cent.
The NZX-50 index closed up 24.9 points at 2724.71, having closed down 6.9 points on Monday. Turnover totalled $113 million.
Stock markets rebounded around the world overnight, helped by Government plans to counter the global economic crisis and by signs the US was close to providing emergency finance for its carmakers. However, shares slid in Australia as investors redirected money into Westpac's discounted A$2.5 billion ($3.04 billion) share placement, which the
bank will use to shore up its balance sheet.
Westpac's capital placement increased concerns about the state of
Australian bank finances.
"That's been a little bit of a drag on the enthusiasm in our index," said David Price of Forsyth Barr. "That said, we've had a few stocks that have continued on very strong rallies on good volumes."
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 6c, or 2 per cent, at $3.08 on 7.3
million shares, while fellow blue chip Sky TV gained 8c, also 2 per cent, to $3.90 on 4.1 million shares.
Telecom was up a cent at $2.33, while bolstering the index were 24c rises for Fletcher Building and Contact Energy, at $5.62 and $6.95 respectively. Auckland Airport was 3c higher at $1.69, but SkyCity
was down 2c at $2.94.
Among the bigger losers, seafood exporter Sanford lost 8c to $5.42, carpetmaker Cavalier fell 10c to $1.80, Hallenstein was down 8c at
$2.22, Ryman fell 6c to $1.49, and Goodman Property Trust lost 8c to $1.62.
On the up side, Steel & Tube jumped 13c to $2.83, Freightways was up 9c at $3.01, NZ Oil and Gas was up 5c at $1.27, and NZX gained 5c to $5.45.
- NZPA
