NZX breaks losing streak as leaders post gains

The New Zealand sharemarket broke a seven-day losing streak today care of solid gains by leading shares Telecom and Fletcher Building.

The benchmark NZX-50 closed up 20.406 points, or 0.64 per cent, at 3209.063. Turnover was worth $36.66 million. There were 42 rises and 34 falls among the 107 stocks traded. The Australian market was closed today for the Australia Day holiday.

"I think most investors locally are just buying time as we wait for the reporting season to kick-off in February. There is really a lack of domestic news to influence our prices at the moment," Hamilton, Hindin, Greene director Grant Williamson said.

Fletcher Building rose 16c, or 2 per cent, to 818 and Telecom rose 5c, or 2.09 per cent, to 244 and both are weighty index members.

Nuplex rose 9c to 339, continuing a rally in the wake of its profit guidance upgrade issued last week.

Air NZ eased 1c to 119 on a day it generated considerable media coverage of its new economy skycouch.

Auckland Airport rose 5c to 192 and Tourism Holdings rose 3c to 93 after the Government last week announced a $10 million investment in tourism marketing.

GPG eased 1c to 87 amid analysis in the Australian media of an interview with Sir Ron Brierley, 72, published at the weekend.

Port of Tauranga, which announced a senior management appointment today, was unchanged at 710.

SkyCity rose 1c to 337 and said its interim result would be released on February 16.

Rural stocks were little changed on a day in which Federated Farmers welcomed news yesterday that Fonterra's farmer shareholders had invested $271 million in buying shares in the co-operative. PGG Wrightson was unchanged at 63, Affco was unchanged at 36 and NZ Farming Systems Uruguay was unchanged at 44.

Listed property trusts were weak after falling last week on worries that taxation reform will affect the sector. ING Property Trust fell 1c to 76, Goodman Property fell 1c to 102, ING Medical Property Trust fell 2c to 116 and Kiwi Income Property Trust fell 1c to 102. AMP Office Trust fell 2c to 73.

Rakon fell 3c to 111, SkyTV fell 2c to 498 and Freightways fell 4c to 328.

Contact Energy fell 7c to 598 and TrustPower was unchanged at 725.

US stocks snapped a three-day slide on Monday on signs that US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would win a US Senate vote for a second term, which relieved the market of some of the uncertainty that contributed to last week's decline.

After the market closed Apple reported sharp gains in quarterly revenue and profit, sending its shares 1.9 per cent higher in after-hours trading.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 23.88 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 10,196.86. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 5.02 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 1096.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 5.51 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 2210.80.

- NZPA