New Zealand stocks rose led by Kathmandu Holdings, which soared to a record after announcing strong sales. Argosy Property, Precinct Properties New Zealand and Kiwi Income Property Trust rose after a speech by the Reserve Bank governor cast doubt on the pace of interest rate rises.
The NZX 50 Index rose 14.229 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5189.126. Within the index, 26 stocks rose, 14 fell and 10 were unchanged. Turnover was $146 million.
Kathmandu jumped 8.7 percent to a record $4.00 after the outdoor goods retailer said it had strong sales over Easter with its third quarter sales up 3.6 percent to $93 million.
The retailer expected full year sales to increase 5.5 percent to $405 million.
"They've shown over the last few years that despite the weaker retail sector in some ways they manage to buck the trend to do very, very well," said Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners. "They've had a reasonably good start to the year and are confident of a strong performance."