Quiet day on sharemarket

The New Zealand sharemarket posted modest gains in a fairly muted start to the new trading week.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 15.823 points, or 0.501 per cent, at 3173.967, after ending last week with a 13.9-point fall on Friday.

Turnover was worth $118.23 million, of which $57.5m was in Telecom shares. There were 49 rises and 35 falls among the 116 stocks traded.

"The market is slightly firmer but it is still lagging behind what is happening in the offshore markets," said Grant Williamson, director at Hamilton, Hindin, Greene.

"I think buyers are a little bit scarce and a number of them are probably holding back for a number of the initial public offers (IPOs) coming up," he said.

The Synlait IPO signalled last week was particularly welcomed by investors because it gave exposure to the dairy sector.

"Depending on fundamentals there could be demand for something like that," he said.

Kathmandu, which debuted at a premium to its offer price on Friday, was unchanged at 223.

Infratil fell 1c to 154 ahead of its interim report tomorrow.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 1c to 311 and Mainfreight was unchanged at 565. Both companies report their interim results on Thursday.

Among the leaders Fletcher Building was unchanged at 800, as was Telecom on 256.

Contact rose 16c to 610 and TrustPower rose 2c to 752.

Freightways rose 9c to 323.

Property stocks were strong with Property for Industry up 3c to 123, Goodman Property up 1c to 105 and AMP Office Trust up 1c to 80. ING Property rose 1c to 80 and Kiwi Income Property Trust rose 2c to 105.

Air NZ rose 2c to 130.

AMP, which operates in an industry expected to consolidate, rose 13c to 805.

Ryman rose 3c to 197, the Warehouse rose 7c to 418 and Rakon rose 1c to 118.

Cynotech Holdings rose 3.5c to 14.5c after saying it expected a takeover offer from chairman Allan Hawkins' private investment company Cynotech Securities.

The banks were weak with Westpac down 159 to 3171 and ANZ down 50c to 2800.

NZ Refining fell 5c to 510 and Methven fell 2c to 148.

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In the United States, stocks rose in light volume to achieve a second straight week of gains as upbeat retail news reinforced hopes for strong sales in the key holiday season.

Consumer shares led the way, following results from media giant Walt Disney Co and retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, and an upbeat view from JC Penney Co Inc.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.7 per cent to end at 10,270.47, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.6 per cent to 1093.48, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.9 per cent to close at 2167.88.

For the week, the Dow rose 2.5 per cent, while the S&P 500 advanced 2.3 per cent, and the Nasdaq gained 2.6 per cent.

- NZPA