KEY POINTS:
New Zealand shares consolidated yesterday's rebound, mirroring positive Australian and US markets.
The benchmark NZSX-50 closed up 16.87 points or 0.5 per cent to 3177.46 on turnover worth $103m. Earlier it bounced 1 per cent.
"We've certainly seen some bargain hunting," Forsyth Barr dealer David Price said. "How long it holds for, I'm not sure."
"The market is, on forecast earnings, looking cheap but the concern if we look at the QSBO (quarter survey of business opinion) yesterday is whether we're going to see those earnings crystallise."
The local market was following a 2 per cent rise in Australia and a 1.3 per cent lift on the Dow Jones, sparked by a drop in oil prices and calming comments from the US Federal Reserve.
Beaten-up top stocks Telecom and Fletcher Building led the index upwards. Both were well up on their lows a week ago, Telecom up 4c to 351 and Fletcher up 20c to 673, consolidating a 5 per cent rise yesterday.
The best performer was meat company Affco Holdings up 5c or 11 per cent to 50c after news that a Singapore-based company wants to buy a quarter stake in Affco-linked dairy processor Dairy Trust.
Jeweller Michael Hill was next, up nearly 11 per cent or 8c to 84c. Cash-strapped finance firm Dorchester Pacific was up 10 per cent or 2c to 22c, while another troubled finance firm Geneva was flat at 12c.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare jumped 10c or 4 per cent to 240 after a report it was expecting sales growth of around 15 per cent a year, and is set to continue expanding.
Other risers was Sanford up 10c to 520, Infratil up 7c to 193, Hallenstein Glasson up 9c to 269, Metlifecare up 13c to 458, Trustpower up 17c to 750, PGG Wrightson up 3c to 260, and Nuplex up 10c to 510.
Transport firms Freightways and Mainfreight were up 2c to 302 and 10c to 650 respectively.
On the downside, Contact was down 10c at 762, Sky City was off 6c to 309, Postie Plus shed a cent to 42, and coal miner Pike River lost 5c to 205.
Mr Price said while New Zealanders had seen many stocks fall without pause, it was more a case of investors being "patient on the buy side" and waiting for stocks to bottom out, rather than "relentless selling".
"We need a circuit breaker but it's hard to see where that's going to come from," he said.
On Wall St, US stocks rose as a pullback in oil prices eased worries about consumer and business spending, while financial shares gained after the Fed chairman said he may keep open a lifeline for banks.
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech that the US central bank may extend emergency lending facilities for big Wall Street banks past year-end, showing the Fed is determined to stop the housing-inspired credit crisis from wreaking further havoc on the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 152.25 points, or 1.36 per cent, at 11,384.21, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 21.39 points, or 1.71 per cent, to 1,273.70.
The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 51.10 points, or 2.28 per cent, at 2,294.42, snapping a 3-day losing streak.
- NZPA