NZ stocks: Mild gains on lacklustre day

The New Zealand sharemarket managed to finish a fairly lacklustre session with modest gains as the Australian market also drifted.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 10.279 points, or 0.368 per cent, at 2801.083.

Turnover was worth $77.5 million. There were 46 rises and 34 falls among the 126 stocks traded. The Australian market was up just 2.1 points late in the New Zealand day.

"It is a mixed day," said Forsyth Barr broker Richard Burton said.

"The US market virtually held on to its gains from the night before," he said.

Telecom rose 3c to 262 after announcing details of plans and products on its new mobile phone network.

Among the leaders Fletcher Building added 2c to 661 and Contact Energy rose 3c to 595. TrustPower rose 8c to 775 and Port of Tauranga rose 10c to 600.

Nuplex rose 3c to 43 after it yesterday confirmed earnings guidance. Last month Nuplex raised $159.5m in equity. There was good volume in Nuplex with $4.65m worth of shares traded.

"When a stock is recapitalised and the balance sheet risk has been reduced the market has responded," Mr Burton said.

He said investors were also looking forward to results from the Fisher and Paykel companies.

"The stronger NZ dollar also affected sentiment toward exporters," he said.

Lion Nathan rose 6c to 1502 after reporting earnings before interest and tax in this country rose 3.1 per cent to $56.5m in the first half of this financial year.

Among the stocks to fall were Pike River Coal, down 9c to 105, Restaurant Brands, down 3c to 95, SkyTV, down 3c to 421 and NZX down 1c to 824.

Stocks unchanged included The Warehouse, Rakon, Sanford, Tourism Holdings, Infratil and Guinness Peat Group.

The Dow and S&P 500 slipped on Tuesday as financial shares sank and on disappointing housing data, but the Nasdaq rose as investors snapped up technology shares ahead of results from Hewlett Packard.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 29.23 points, or 0.34 per cent, at 8474.85.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 1.58 points, or 0.17 per cent, at 908.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 2.18 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 1734.54.

- NZPA