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The New Zealand sharemarket rose 0.4 per cent following a jump in United States markets on Friday, eyeing record high levels at the start of a holiday-shortened week.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 18.74 points at 4201.64, just 14.65 points below February's record, on turnover of 28.2 million shares valued at $90.6 million. Rises outnumbered falls 58 to 48 among the 152 stocks traded.
"The US market on Friday night went to a record level, and today Australia had a bit of a reversal during the day ... so the markets are going to find the new index levels challenging, and investors will be patient until they see any breakout one way or another," said Nigel Scott of ABN Amro Craigs.
Market leader Telecom rose 1.2 per cent, or 6c, to 496. Late in the session, Australian telco PowerTel said its shareholders had approved Telecom's A$320 million ($362.3 million) takeover, to be completed early next month.
Telecom has said it planned to merge its poorly performing AAPT unit with PowerTel to help it compete in the tough Australian telecoms market.
Among other stocks to gain, high-flying Air New Zealand lifted a further 7c to a fresh three-and-a-half-year high of 272. The flagship carrier has been steadily rising thanks to cheaper fuel and the airline's improved performance.
Among blue chip stocks, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare bounced off last week's lows gaining 7c to 362, F&P Appliances rose a cent to 360, Contact Energy was up 8c at 913, and Sky City rose 7c to 487.
Second-ranked Fletcher Building fell 5c to 1140, Sky TV lost 6c to 610, and Auckland International Airport was down a cent at 235.
Tower rose 3c to 228, Hallenstein Glasson jumped 11c to 498, Infratil rose 5c to 590, and Guinness Peat Group was up 3c at 234.
Property for Industry closed a cent higher at 148, after announcing quarterly net profit rose 3.4 per cent to $3.7 million.
The Reserve Bank of NZ releases its decision on interest rates on Thursday, with economists split about the chance of a rate rise but expecting at least one more tightening before the current cycle is finished.
Australia's benchmark index was down 0.3 per cent at 6189.9, while Japan's Nikkei average was little changed as caution ahead of earnings announcements put Yahoo Japan and others under pressure.
On Friday, the Dow closed at a record high after coming within 35 points of 13,000, as Google and Caterpillar joined the list of companies reporting surprisingly strong quarterly results.
- NZPA