KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket closed up 1.84 per cent tonight despite more finance company woes announced late afternoon and official cash rate news expected tomorrow.
The benchmark NZSX-50 was up 57.74 points, or 1.84 per cent, to 3201.7 at close today on turnover worth $135,753,266.
The rise comes despite late afternoon news from finance company Hanover that it today suspended repayment of its deposits.
Nigel Scott, of ABN Amro Craigs, said Hanover was "clearly one of the last big ones (finance companies)" and was "another blow" to that sector.
He said the Australasian markets had been having several days of "relief rally".
"I think we've come to a period in the market place where it did get, last Tuesday, pretty aggressively oversold.
"The New Zealand markets now had three or four out of the last five or six days up, and quite aggressively up on some of those days."
The lead up to end of June quarter results, Kiwisaver and Australian savings having to be invested and a small drop in the oil price had all affected the market today, he said.
Telecom led the market with a 10c rise to 350, Sky TV was up 16c to 445, Sky City 8c to 310, Port of Tauranga 20c to 650, Air New Zealand 8c to 123, Contact 5c to 814 and Fletcher Building 4c to 655.
Nuplex was up 10c to 535 on the back of a weakening kiwi dollar, Fisher and Paykel Appliances 3c to 200 and Fisher and Paykel Healthcare 11c to 246.
"The markets remain volatile, we could be down 50 (points) tomorrow," Mr Scott said.
"The global markets are still going to remain volatile. It could well be we're in a bit of a relief rally leading through the June results and every four years the world shuts down and focuses on the Olympics, it's not that far away."
Against the trend ING Property was down 1c to 82, Goodman 3c to 166, Kirkaldie and Stains 30c to 250.
US stocks rose more than 1 per cent as the drop in oil prices took the edge off a raft of disappointing earnings from American Express and others as well as a weak outlook from iPod maker Apple.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 135.16 points, or 1.18 per cent, to 11,602.50, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended up 17.00 points, or 1.35 per cent, at 1277.00. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 24.43 points, or 1.07 per cent, at 2303.96.
- NZPA
