New Zealand stocks rose, energy stocks extended a rally for a second day as turmoil in the Labour Party fuelled speculation the incumbent National-led government will return for a third term. Meridian Energy, MightyRiverPower, Contact Energy and Genesis climbed.
The NZX 50 Index rose 11.041 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5153.963. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 13 fell and 14 were unchanged. Turnover was $123 million.
The surprise exit from politics by Labour MP Shane Jones, who ran for the party's leadership last year, to take up a Pacific economic ambassador post created for him by the National-led government, may weaken the opposition party's election chances. The Labour and Green parties want to re-regulate New Zealand's energy market, a policy which spooked investors and depressed interest in the partial privatisation of MRP, Meridian and Genesis over the last 13 months.
Majority state-owned Meridian climbed 1.3 percent to $1.20, a record price for the stock since its October listing. MRP rose 1.8 percent to a near nine-month high of $2.30. Contact advanced 0.7 percent to a year high of $5.73.
Outside the benchmark index, Genesis Energy, the last asset in the government's partial-privatisation scheme to be publicly listed, rose 0.6 percent to $1.82 as $172 million worth of its shares changed hands today. It has gained 17 percent since its launch a week ago.