NZ sharemarket rises as Telecom recovers

File photo / NZ Herald

The New Zealand sharemarket turned positive today as Telecom shares recovered and retailers reported mixed results.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 9.226 points, or 0.293 per cent, at 3160.997, having opened down 4.538 points.

Telecom ended 2c higher at 204 after falling 11c yesterday when it did not make a prioritised list for a portion of the Government's ultra-fast broadband project. Analysts said the priority areas excluded the cities of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch so there was more to play out in the situation.

Allied Farmers rose to 3.4c after announcing an earlier than expected settlement of the sale of its Five Mile property early in the session. Late in the day it disclosed an unaudited $77.58 million loss after writing off goodwill for its collapsed finance company.

Retailer Briscoe Group was unchanged at 125 after reporting a strong rise in underlying earnings, which it attributed to cost control and aggressive promotional activity in a difficult trading environment.

The Warehouse rose 1c to 370 after it announced a $83.2 million net profit after tax for the year ended August 1, down 2.4 per cent from last year. After reducing $22.8m relating to government tax charges, the net profit after tax was down 21.6 per cent to $60.2m.

Fletcher Building rose 3c to 825, Cavalier Carpets eased 4c to 276 and Steel & Tube rose 4c to 250.

Rakon eased a cent to 119 after signalling an annual profit in the range of $25m to $30m at its annual meeting.

Nuplex eased 1c to 338. Contact Energy rose 3c to 574, New Zealand Oil & Gas eased 3c to 128, and New Zealand Refining rose 3c to 325.

In US, stocks rose on Thursday as better-than-expected jobs and trade data helped lift optimism about the economic recovery, although sentiment was fragile as investors fretted over European banks.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 28.23 points, or 0.27 per cent to 10,415.24. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 5.31 points, or 0.48 per cent to 1104.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 7.33 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 2236.20.

- NZPA