New Zealand stocks rose from a three-month low as investors sought out defensive options ahead of next month's reporting season and September's general election. Telecom Corp paced gains to rise to a month high. Contact Energy, Genesis Energy and Meridian Energy rose.
The NZX 50 Index rose 27.273 points, or 0.5 percent, to 5127.865. Within the index, 31 stocks rose, 10 fell and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $99.5 million.
The benchmark index has advanced 8 percent this year, outperforming Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index's 3 percent gain, while Japan's Nikkei 225 Index has declined 6.1 percent. In the past month investors have mulled the high valuations of New Zealand stocks, with the NZX 50 falling 1.2 percent.
"Really there is a bit of question mark over some of these valuations and it's going to be the reporting season that's going to pretty much give us some evidence one way or the other," said Grant Williamson, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene. "I think it will be a mixed bag - we will see some companies perform better than expected and some likely to be under the market expectation, but also with the general election we're not going to see any strong buying coming into this market until we've had that uncertainty removed."
Telecom rose 1.3 percent to $2.75. New Zealand's largest telecommunications provider has gained 19 percent this year.
"Investors are just continuing to look at Telecom as a good defensive play," Williamson said.