NZ sharemarket closes higher

The New Zealand sharemarket rallied today after a strong performance by Wall Street, and one of the biggest gainers on a big news day for New Zealand soccer was pay television operator SkyTV.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 22.674 points, or 0.745 per cent, at 3066.576, which is about a month high. Turnover was worth $66 million. There were 47 rises and 30 falls among the 110 stocks traded.

Brokers said there may have been a feelgood factor in the 22c, or 4.58 per cent, gain in SkyTV to 502 as New Zealanders tuned in to watch the All Whites' historic draw against Slovakia at the Fifa World Cup.

But Peter Sigley of Goldman Sachs JBWere attributed the rise to bargain hunting after the stock fell in the last month.

"There was quite strong selling pressure in the stock in the last month. There is now more normality in the market and we've seen it rebounding on modest volumes. There's been competing buyers," he said.

Guinness Peat Group shot up to 72c as the investment company led by Sir Ron Brierley said it would spin off its Australian assets but it eased back to close unchanged at 66. Brokers said the announcement lacked detail and came after speculation of divisions in the boardroom.

Telecom rose 2c to 192 even though the Commerce Commission reversed its previous recommendation on mobile termination rates - fees telcos charge each other for connecting calls on their networks - and advised Communications Minister Steven Joyce to regulate.

Mr Sigley said that overall market volumes remained light.

Fletcher Building rose 13c to 818, Nuplex rose 5c to 308 and Fisher & Paykel Appliances rose 2c to 59. Port of Tauranga rose 3c to 678.

Tower rose 4c to 194, and Cavalier Carpets rose 4c to 260. Mainfreight rose 6c to 620.

The stand in the market for 10.1 per cent of Horizon Energy continued to progress with Marlborough Lines disclosing it has reached 8.15 per cent.

Affco, which is subject to a bid from Talleys at 37, closed at 38.

OceanaGold rose 26c to 464. Contact Energy fell 5c to 584.

NZX eased a cent to 148 ahead of its annual meeting tomorrow and on a day an electronic platform used by institutional investors said it would trade New Zealand equities.

In the US, semiconductor shares led the way after two large Taiwanese chip producers pointed to growing global demand.

Stocks linked to global growth also rallied sharply, with heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc up 4 per cent. Other multinationals with heavy exposure to Europe, such as aircraft maker Boeing Co, also climbed in sync with the rallying euro.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 2.1 per cent to 10,404.77, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 2.4 per cent to 1115.23, and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 2.8 per cent to 2305.88.

The S&P 500's rise lifted the index above its 200-day moving average, a level it has struggled to breach for the last month, and a milestone that could signal bullish momentum for investors.

- NZPA