NZ stocks: Market firm but off best level

The New Zealand sharemarket put some runs on the board today and among the best performers was Sir Ron Brierley's Guinness Peat Group.

The NZSX-50 index closed up 14.775 points, or 0.532 per cent, at 2790.899. This was off the session high of 2809.835.

Turnover was worth $98.87 million. There were 41 rises and 36 falls among the 107 stocks traded.

"The market bounced back from yesterday's disappointing performance, once again on the back of offshore markets," said Grant Williamson, director of Hamilton, Hindin, Greene.

A drop in the NZ dollar after worse-than-expected retail sales data was good news for exporters.

Guinness Peat Group rose 5c to 80 after a market update valued its assets at $1.41 a share, which is a premium to the share price.

TrustPower rose 4c to 760 after reporting an increase in annual profit and the payment of a special dividend. Its 50.5 per cent shareholder Infratil rose 3c to 170.

Kiwi Income Property Trust rose 1c to 94 after reporting a full year after- tax loss of $168.9 million, but said it made a distributable profit of $61m which was down 1.8 per cent from a year earlier.

Goodman Property Trust rose another 3c to 85c after lifting 2c yesterday. Turnover in the stock was worth $2.7m today.

Telecom rose 1c to 260, after losing 4c yesterday. Fletcher Building rose 7c to 663 but traded as high as 685 today.

Contact Energy was unchanged at 599.

Auckland Airport eased 1c to 169, Fisher & Paykel Appliances rose 2c to 62 and Mainfreight eased 4c to 475. Sky TV eased 2c to 430.

Tower rose 3c to 162, and Ryman rose 4c to 165.

US stocks rose on Thursday as investors returned to financial and technology shares.

The surge in US markets over the past two months made investors who missed the rally anxious to get back into stocks, analysts said.

Defensive stocks, such as consumer staples and healthcare also lifted, underscoring lingering worries about the economy following a report that showed a jump in weekly jobless claims.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 46.43 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 8331.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 9.15 points, or 1.04 per cent, to 893.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 25.02 points, or 1.50 per cent, to 1689.21.

- NZPA