NZ stocks: Market back on upward path

The New Zealand share market rose today as Telecom resumed its rally.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 46.356 points, or 1.704 per cent, at 2766.273, after a 20.7-point loss on Friday snapped a five-day run of rises.

Turnover was worth $73.8 million. There were 52 rises and 22 falls among the 112 stocks traded.

Telecom closed up 11c at 274, having lost 19c on Friday when it emerged that rival Vodafone is seeking an injunction to restrain alleged interference on its network by prohibiting transmitting on Telecom's 850TX band.

The market was not paying too much attention to the story today, said Grant Williamson, director at Hamilton, Hindin, Greene.

"We've seen some strong retail buying pretty much across the board today," he said.

He said investors were looking for recovery stocks.

Investor confidence was improved on the back of improved offshore markets. The Australian market was up more than 2 per cent as New Zealand closed.

Contact Energy was up 13c to 584 and Fisher & Paykel Appliances rose 3c to 51.

Fletcher Building gained 16c to 690 and Auckland Airport rose 3c to 160.

Also up were Ryman 4c to 146, The Warehouse 8c to 378, Westpac 25c to 2475, ANZ 105 to 2115, Briscoe 3c to 86, Ebos 8c to 498, NZX 3c to 718 and National Property 2c to 38.

Falls included Opus 2c to 138, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare 1c to 305, Cavalier Corp 3c to 165, and NZOG 1c to 139.

In the United States, stocks rose on Friday (local time) as surging oil prices pushed energy shares higher and fresh economic data suggested key parts of the economy could be stabilising.

The US factory sector contracted further in April, but at a slower pace, while consumers reported feeling more confident about the economy last month than at any time since September.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.5 per cent to 8212.41 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.5 per cent to 877.52, and the Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.1 per cent to 1719.20 points.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.7 per cent, the S&P gained 1.3 per cent and the Nasdaq ended up 1.5 per cent.

- NZPA