Sharemarket crawls through mid holiday hiatus

Photo / Kenny Rodger.

The NZX's benchmark index of its top 50 companies ended flatter than a flounder yesterday, clawing its way to a 0.26 per cent rise through the afternoon, after slipping a little in morning trade.

It ended the day up 8.648 points, at 3334.267, on a slightly increased volume of 8.35 million shares. In a continuation of subdued holiday trading, shares which changed hands were worth only $17.6 million, a third of "normal" levels. There were 31 rises and 32 falls among the total of 91 stocks traded.

In percentage terms, fishing company Sanford showed the biggest lift, a 14c rise to $4.74, up just over 3 per cent.

The index was helped by its biggest stock, Telecom, rising 1c to $2.19 as nearly 2.4 million of its shares were traded. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose another 2c to $3.19, Rakon came up 2c, to $1.22, and Freightways rose 5c to $3.17 on small trades.

Auckland International Airport rose 3c to $2.23, with more than 800,000 shares changing hands.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances fell 1c to $5.50, having warned shareholders of deteriorating retail trading conditions. New Zealand Oil & Gas rose 2.35 per cent to 87c.

Most Asian stocks were slightly higher, though investors there also stayed on the sidelines in light trading ahead of the New Year holiday and in the absence of fresh market leads.

In early trade, Japan's Nikkei slumped 1.1 per cent, with losses also on Hong Kong's Hang Seng (0.1 per cent) and China's Shanghai Composite (0.4 per cent).

Across the Tasman, miners BHP Billiton, Newcrest Mining and Eldorado Gold rose slightly in the wake of Wednesday's concerns about rises in China's interest rates, and after copper prices hit a record and gold and silver prices also lifted.

The benchmark ASX 200 index was up 20.3 points at 4795.5 late in the day.

In New York the Dow Jones Industrial average added 9.84 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 11,585.38.

The S&P 500 rose 1.27, or 0.1 per cent, to 1259.78. The technology-focused Nasdaq gained 4.05, or nearly 0.2 per cent, to 2,666.93.

- NZPA