NZ stocks: Market ends slightly higher

The New Zealand sharemarket posted modest gains on a mixed day ahead of the June 30 year-end.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 4.5 points, or 0.162 per cent, at 2775.119. Turnover was worth $121.9 million. There were 31 rises and 48 falls among the 114 stocks traded.

The economic backdrop remained muddled with a bigger-than-expected trade surplus today countering weaker-than-expected gross domestic product data in the March quarter on Friday.

Brokers said some institutions were out of the market ahead of the year-end. Offshore markets did not give a clear lead and there was little corporate news today.

"It was hovering between negative and positive today - a true mixed session," ABN Amro Craigs senior dealer Bryon Burke.

Telecom rose 9c to 274 and Telstra rose 7c to 412.

Contact rose 10c to 575 and Tower rose 4c to 180.

Ryman Healthcare marked 10 years on the market with a function and a 3c rise in its price to 159.

Among the losers today were Fletcher Building, down 2c to 638, Infratil, down 1c to 174 and Michael Hill, down 2c to 66.

The Warehouse eased 2c to 372 and Restaurant Brands eased a cent to 102. TrustPower was unchanged at 770.

Fisher and Paykel Appliances was unchanged at 66 after announcing on Friday its capital raising was successfully concluded. The healthcare stock eased 5c to 291.

NZOG fell 3c to 156 and Pike River Coal was unchanged at 119.

Tourism Holdings eased 1c to 46, after being unchanged on Friday when it announced a company-wide pay freeze.

Hallenstein Glasson was down 5c at 250, having earlier been down 10c.

NZX fell 26c to 730.

Mainfreight fell 5c to 425 and SkyCity fell 4c to 264. ANZ fell 40c to 2005 and Westpac fell 70c to 2450.

In the United States, the Nasdaq rose on Friday, on strong demand for Palm's Inc's Pre smartphone, while the Dow was dragged lower by sliding oil prices and strength in some financial stocks helped cushion the S&P 500's decline.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.4 per cent to 8438.39, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.2 per cent to 918.90, but the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.5 per cent to 1838.22.

- NZPA