NZ market: rise for Healthcare shares

The New Zealand sharemarket rose as strong United States corporate earnings reports continued to boost sentiment in many markets, but trading was relatively subdued in this market ahead of the holiday weekend.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 24.831 points, or 0.761 per cent, at 3289.746.

Shares in medical equipment company Ebos rose another 7c to 712, adding to gains yesterday when Ebos announced a 20c a share special dividend at its annual meeting.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was also a stand out, rising 8c to 333.

Accounting software provider Xero gained 9c to 158, after announcing that San Francisco-based investor Peter Thiel had agreed to invest $4 million in the company to support its expansion into the US market.

Vector eased a cent to 236 as it gave investors a thorough run down on its business at its annual meeting.

James Lee, head of institutional equities at First NZ Capital, said Vector's disappointment at the Commerce Commission's final consultation in respect of input methodologies for the electricity distribution sector released today was the main issue for investors.

The rules on how the regulator calculated the cost of capital for the company were constantly changing and were difficult for investors assess.

"There is no real clarity as to what this is going to mean for Vector," he said.

Contact Energy rose 7c to 585. Ryman added 6c to 216, Cavalier rose 5c to 310 and SkyTV rose 1c to 521.

Fletcher Building eased a cent to 820 after initially trading higher.

Telecom rose 6c to 209 after initially being little changed.

SkyCity fell 1c to 291, NZX fell 3c to 155 and AMP Office Trust fell 1c to 78.

In the US, equities edged higher in a volatile session, torn between strong corporate earnings and a surge in the US dollar.

"Companies are continuing to show that they are continuing to make money in a low nominal GDP environment and that they are very good at it and they can continue to do so," said Paul Zemsky, head of asset allocation at ING.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.4 per cent to 11,146.57, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.2 per cent to 1180.26, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.1 per cent to 2459.67.

- NZPA