New Zealand shares rose, pushing the NZX 50 Index to its eighth consecutive record close, after Heartland New Zealand affirmed guidance. Genesis Energy and Infratil gained as investors hunted yield in a low interest rate environment.
The NZX 50 Index rose 30.385 points, 0.6 percent, to 5418.219. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 13 fell and 14 were unchanged. Turnover was $84 million.
Heartland climbed 3 percent to $1.03. Last week, the bank formed through the merger of Canterbury and Southern Cross building societies with Marac Finance affirmed its earnings guidance for the 2015 financial year, of profit between $42 million and $45 million and sees annual consumer lending growth of up to 10 percent. The company offers a forward dividend yield of 6.9 percent, according to Reuters data.
"Dividends have become a focus for investors over the last few weeks," said Robert Garden, investment adviser for Craigs Investment Partners. "It is a reasonably good dividend paying stock and those results have added confidence for investors to look at it as a dividend play but also a growth play."
Among companies typically held for their dividend yield, Genesis Energy advanced 3 percent to $2.07. Infratil, the infrastructure investor, gained 2.3 percent to $2.93. State controlled energy generator and retailer MightyRiverPower rose 1.4 percent to $2.86. Contact Energy climbed 1 percent to $6.26. Spark New Zealand, formerly Telecom Corp, increased 1.1 percent to $3.19.