KEY POINTS:
Shares in retailer The Warehouse tumbled today, following a Court of Appeal decision preventing takeover bids by Woolworths and Foodstuffs.
But that fall was countered by strong performance by many leading shares, which brokers said reflected demand from foreign investors returning to the market.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 48.52 points at 3336.28, on top of a 52 point rise yesterday. There were 67 rises and 33 falls. Turnover was worth $157.68m.
The Warehouse shares ended down 60c, or 15.71 per cent, to 322. Brokers said investors are waiting to see if Woolworths and Foodstuffs will appeal.
"I guess the market is just saying nothing much is going to happen for a while," said Stephen Wright of ASB Securities.
Generally speaking the rest of the market had a good day.
Telecom rose 13c to 381. It is up from 325 two weeks ago.
"It will generally reflect a decent market and when there is overseas buying into our market one of the first ports of call will be Telecom.
"I think there has been some offshore buying," Mr Wright said.
A rise in oil prices and a profit report helped New Zealand Oil & Gas, up 13c to 166. The company reported full year revenue of $234.6 million, up from $4.2 million the year before due to earnings from the Tui area oilfields off the Taranaki coast. Offshoot Pike River Coal was up 1c at 204.
Contact Energy was up 5c to 840, having lifted 15c the previous day. Fletcher Building eased 2c to 638.
A confirmation of a profit warning did little to hold TrustPower back. It rose 11c to 796.
APN went against the market trend, declining 8c to 412. Mainfreight rose 6c to 679 on a day in which it held its annual meeting.
Port of Tauranga eased 10c to 645.
Steel & Tube rose 15c to 305 and SkyTV rose 22c to 472. SkyCity rose 9c to 345. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 7c to 280 and NZ Farming Systems rose 1c to 179.
In the US, the Dow industrials and S&P 500 rose as a surprising increase in private-sector employment and central bank efforts to boost liquidity in stormy financial markets offset a surge in oil prices.
Bank stocks rose after the Federal Reserve and other central banks said they would boost measures to stabilise financial companies struggling with credit losses.
The price of oil rose nearly 4 per cent, boosting shares of energy companies.
The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 1.63 per cent to 11,583.69. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 1.67 per cent, to 1284.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.44 per cent to 2329.72.
- NZPA