Scramble for Fletcher shares lifts NZX

Fletcher Building shares closed up 12c, or 1.4 per cent, at $8.48. Photo / Kenny Rodger

The New Zealand sharemarket continued to gather steam during the day as blue chip construction and building supplies stock Fletcher Building hit a nearly five-month high in the wake of the Canterbury earthquake.

Fletcher Building shares closed up 12c, or 1.4 per cent, at $8.48. That was their highest closing level since late April and on top of an 11c gain on Monday. The stock has recovered sharply from a one-year-low of $7.16 in mid-August, boosted in part by expectation of heavy demand in Canterbury as the region rebuilds from the devastating earthquake on September 4.

After an early rise, the NZX-50 index closed up 19.05 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 3197.52, having gained nearly 18 points yesterday.

Among the top stocks, Telecom was down a cent at $2.06, Contact Energy gained a cent to $5.75, Auckland Airport was up a cent at $2.08, Sky TV was up 2c at $5.20, and Infratil was a cent higher at $1.75.

Freight forwarder Mainfreight jumped to a two-year high of $7.24, up 24c or 3 per cent. The company's trucks have been busy moving freight between Blenheim and Christchurch as State Highway 1 and the railway are blocked by a massive slip near Kaikoura.

Freightways was up 4c at $3.08, a day before going ex-dividend.

Some of the second-tier stocks posted reasonable gains, with carpetmaker Cavalier up 11c at $2.85, clothing retailer Hallenstein Glasson up 7c at $3.95, and high-tech manufacturer Rakon up 6c at $1.20.

Pike River Coal was up 3c at $1.09 after news that its general mine manager, Peter Whittall, had been appointed chief executive, to take office next month.

Among the falls, Restaurant Brands was down a cent at $2.43, The Warehouse lost 2c to $3.73 and Abano Healthcare fell 5c to $5.25.

Across the Tasman yesterday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 0.2 per cent at 4622.

Earlier in the United States, stocks advanced to their highest levels in five weeks, taking the S&P 500 index near the top of its summer range on upbeat Chinese factory data and new global banking rules.

- NZPA