KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket nudged into positive territory today to outperform weak Asian markets as the annual reporting season wound up.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 0.04 points at 3332.06. There were 40 rises and 35 falls and turnover was worth $119.36m.
Highlights on the day included strength in Auckland International Airport and Mainfreight on the back of well-received profit results and ongoing demand for Fletcher Building shares.
Top stock Telecom continued to trade in a relatively narrow range and ended the day down 1c at 328.
Auckland International Airport rose 3c to 201 after the company posted a 3.3 per cent rise in full year adjusted net profit to $103.7 million.
"The outlook was for a bit more growth, capex was lower and they are still doing well out of car parking and retail rents," said Stephen Wright at ASB Securities.
Mainfreight ended unchanged at 712 but traded as high as 720 after reporting a strong first quarter result.
"The New Zealand domestic operations are doing very well and they are starting to show the benefits of their US expansion," Mr Wright said.
Fletcher Building closed up 13c at 716 on good volume.
NZ Refining rose 20c to 720 after reporting a drop in profit but the company has built up a buffer to protect margins and has an expansion under way.
Tourism Holdings rose 3c to 144 and Cavalier Carpets rose 5c to 265.
Port of Tauranga rose 7c to 705 after Ports of Auckland expressed a desire to buy its container business. NorthPort rose 14c to 297.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances eased 1c to 187 and the healthcare stock eased 4c to 292.
Botry-Zen rose 0.5c to 2c as the overdrawn company seeks a buyer.
US stocks rose as bank and energy shares rebounded even as investors dumped Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on fears of an imminent government bailout of the housing finance companies.
A 14 per cent jump in quarterly profit for computer maker Hewlett-Packard also helped boost the S&P 500 and raised hopes that overseas demand would continue to support technology spending.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.61 per cent at 11,417.43. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.62 per cent at 1274.54. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.20 per cent at 2389.08.
- NZPA
