NZ sharemarket rises after surge on Wall St

The New Zealand sharemarket galloped away yesterday after Wall St rose strongly on Friday (US time) but brokers said volume was thin in most stocks. Photo / Paul Estcourt

The New Zealand sharemarket galloped away yesterday after Wall St rose strongly on Friday (US time) but brokers said volume was thin in most stocks.

Shares in retailer Hallenstein Glasson rose 12c to $4.24 after the company reported that full-year earnings before tax on normal business activity rose nearly 60 per cent to $29.2 million, boosted by an improved buying regime and the stronger New Zealand dollar.

Overall, the NZX-50 index rose 27.988 points, or 0.872 per cent, to 3239.143. That was less than the 1.9 per cent rise in the Dow Jones industrial average on Friday.

"Post daylight saving and the market has a spring in its step. It was quite a strong market offshore and we've been marked up on the back of it but the volumes have been pretty sporadic," said David Price at Forsyth Barr.

He said there were no real surprises in the Hallenstein result as the company had given guidance ahead of it.

"They are one retailer that has managed to hold their margins."

The Warehouse rose 5c to $3.80, Pumpkin Patch rose 2c to $1.93 and Kathmandu rose 4c to $1.82. But Hellaby, which owns retailers, fell 2c to $2.02 and Michael Hill fell 1c to 70c.

Among the leaders Telecom rose 1c to $2.04, Fletcher rose 7c to $8.53 and Contact Energy rose 9c to $5.81.

Port of Tauranga gained 10c to $6.91, Freightways rose 2c to $2.97 and Mainfreight was unchanged at $7.15.

TrustPower rose 2c to $7.35 and Auckland Airport rose 2c to $2.07.

AMP Office Trust rose 2c to 77c and ING Property Trust rose 1c to 73c. ING Medical Property Trust rose 2c to $1.25 and Kiwi Income Property Trust rose 1c to $1.01.

In the United States, stocks notched their fourth week of gains as investors used a rise in business spending to revive the September rally after three days of losses.

Economic data gave a mixed picture, but traders latched on to a rise in August business spending as the latest sign the recovery is on firmer ground.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.9 per cent at 10,860.26, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index finished up 2.1 per cent at 1148.65, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.3 per cent at 2381.22.

For the week, the Dow was up 2.4 per cent, the S&P rose 2.1 per cent and the Nasdaq added 2.8 per cent.

- NZPA