NZX-50 defies overseas trends to finish higher

File photo / NZ Herald

New Zealand's benchmark stock index, the NZX-50, kicked up against trends in overseas markets to close 0.4 per cent higher yesterday at 3558.05 as large-capitalisation stocks bounced.

The NZX-50 ignited and jumped 11 points at mid-afternoon after lifting in early trading and then trundling along in a narrow range.

It finished up 14.18 points for the day.

In early trading, infrastructure investor Infratil reported a full-year operating surplus of $173 million compared to $90 million a year earlier.

This pushed its share price up 4c or 2.1 per cent to 194, the price at which it closed, a 2.11 per cent gain.

The NZX-50 index gained 8.1 points on Monday and by mid-morning had edged up another 0.22 points to 3544.09.

Cornerstone stock Telecom made good on Monday's promise - when it equalled its 14-month high of 235 in intraday trading - and finished up 2c to 236.5.

Other big rises for the day included OceanaGold, which was up 4c to $3.05c, Cavalier Corp lifted 2.2 per cent, up 8c to $3.65, and NZ Refining Co was up 3c to $4.56.

Retailer The Warehouse lost 5c to $3.70 early and Mainfreight finished on par at $9.35.

Pyne Gould Corp fell 3.2 per cent - by 1c to $3 - as nearly five million shares changed hands.

Australian shares also traded flat for large parts of the day, but lifted later in the day, buoyed by the top miners after copper prices continued to rebound.

At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 33.9 points, or 0.7 per cent, higher at 4683.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 28.8 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 4753.

In the US, stocks fell as investors sold recent winners in a sign of growing unease with pockets of US economic weakness.

Worries about the market's ability to extend its recent gains are growing, with the expected end to the Federal Reserve's stimulus programme next month and the recent collapse in commodity prices making investors prone to sell more volatile stocks that have outperformed this year.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.4 per cent to close at 12,548.37, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 0.6 per cent to end at 1329.47, and the Nasdaq Composite Index slid 1.6 per cent to 2782.31.

- NZPA