Xero rises in lacklustre NZ market

File photo / NZH

Xero shares closed 5.49 per cent higher today after the online accounting firm reported higher revenue, while Rakon was mixed in reaction to its interim report and other stocks reacted to comments from annual meetings.

Overall, the New Zealand sharemarket was little changed on a day in which markets in Asia rallied and the NZ dollar headed higher again.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 2.379 points, or 0.071 per cent, at 3331.108.

Xero closed up 10c at 192 and traded to a record 193 after the company reported half year revenue of $3.7 million, up from $1.3 million a year earlier, and said it had reached the turning point toward profitability.

Shares in technology firm Rakon ended unchanged at 128 but traded as high as 131 after it reported a half-year net profit of $5.6m, turning around a loss from a year earlier, and saying it had achieved good recovery and growth across all its segments.

Sanford did not trade but after the market closed the Commerce Commission granted permission for it to acquire five companies that together make up the Pacifica Seafoods Group.

Hellaby eased 5c to 195 after talking about flat trading conditions at its annual meeting and Steel & Tube eased a cent to 239 after signalling a better performance but also saying the economic recovery was not as strong as expected.

Telecom eased 2c to 216, Contact Energy was unchanged at 599.

Fletcher Building eased 9c to 803 on a day economists described the property market as being in a "double dip", after figures showed residential sales falling below 4000 for the first time in an October month since the data was first compiled 18 years ago.

The Warehouse gained 6c to 388, Sky TV lifted 1c to 553, Restaurant Brands added 3c to 273, Methven was up 3c to 189, Infratil added 1c to 186, and Hallenstein Glasson lifted 2c to 450.

In the United States, stocks closed with small gains, paring early losses as investors weighed ongoing concerns about European sovereign debt and an encouraging drop in US jobless claims.

As the US dollar's recent rise slowed, trade in the final hours was boosted, especially for shares of large exporting multinational companies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 per cent to 11,357.04, weighed down by a 3.2 per cent drop in Boeing's shares after the aerospace giant halted test flight of its new 787 Dreamliner. The S&P 500 index rose 0.4 per cent to 1218.71, while the Nasdaq composite index gained 0.6 per cent at 2578.78.

- NZPA