NZ market closes slightly higher

The New Zealand sharemarket was mildly positive today ahead of results from Steel & Tube on Thursday and Telecom on Friday.

News of strong earnings from the world's biggest miner BHP Billiton and ASB's parent Commonwealth Bank helped the Australian market but it struggled to maintain gains. Generally financial markets were buoyed by speculation European countries will bail out Greece.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 9.056 points, or 0.294 per cent, at 3085.507. Turnover was worth $157 million and was boosted by large volume in Fletcher Building. There were 58 rises and 27 falls among the 115 stocks traded.

Postie Plus rose 1c to 40 after the retailer reported a 9.25 per cent rise in sales in the six months to January 31 from a year ago. Pumpkin Patch rose 3c to 193.

Property trusts were weak after the Government left property investors up in the air by not spelling out exact changes in an outline of taxation policy yesterday. AMP Office Trust fell 2c to 74, Kiwi Income Property Trust fell 2c to 102, ING Property Trust fell 1c to 77 and Property for Industry fell 1c to 113.

Among the leaders Telecom was up 1c to 229, Fletcher Building was up 9c to 755 and Contact Energy was unchanged at 580. Telecom is expected to report a profit between $60m and $90m for the December quarter on Friday.

Pike River Coal rose 2c to 90 at a time that the Government is positive about mining. NZOG rose 2c to 150. OceanaGold rose 12c to 267.

Tower rose 3c to 197 a day after its annual meeting. NZ Refining rose 5c to 360 and Fisher & Paykel Appliances rose 2c to 63.

Tourism Holdings rose 4c to 90. Nuplex rose 8c to 323 and NZ Farming Systems Uruguay rose 1c to 42.

Auckland Airport was unchanged at 187 on a day in which it disclosed it won an airport of the year award.

Mainfreight rose 13c to 588, Air NZ rose 4c to 132 and Ebos rose 7c to 605.

In the United States, the Dow posted its largest one-day percentage gain in three months on Tuesday, boosted by the reports of help for Greece.

"There's a relief that something can be worked out to prevent a collapse of their bond market," said Ben Halliburton, chief investment officer at Tradition Capital Management in Summit, New Jersey. "The question is, will the other countries be willing to step in?" Gains on Wall Street were broad-based, but shares of commodity-related companies shot higher as a decline in the dollar lifted prices of oil and gold.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 150.25 points, or 1.52 per cent, to 10,058.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 13.78 points, or 1.30 per cent, to 1070.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 24.82 points, or 1.17 per cent, to 2150.87. It was the Dow's biggest daily percentage gain since November 9. Concern over rising debt in Greece and some other euro zone countries have sapped confidence in equity markets in recent weeks, with the Dow average closing below 10,000 on Monday for the first time since November.

- NZPA