KEY POINTS:
Activity on the New Zealand sharemarket picked up in April following February's world market plunge.
Stock exchange operator NZX said today the number of trades rose 4 per cent against a year earlier to 44,443.
That was in contrast with the previous month's 11 per cent fall.
However, the value traded fell 4 per cent to $2.2 billion, while the average daily value traded fell 9 per cent to $123 million.
Total trades on the main board, the NZSX, rose 5 per cent but the value fell 3 per cent to $2.1b.
During the month, the NZSX 50 Index gained 11 per cent to 4195, to be up 3 per cent since the beginning of the year.
New capital raised on the market totalled $555m for the month, a 106 per cent increase, to be up 11 per cent for the year so far.
New equity raised was $210m and new debt raised totalled $345m.
Activity on the alternative market, the NZAX, remained subdued at 421 trades for the month totalling $3m.
Shares in NZX, which hit a record high yesterday of $10.10, last traded down 4c at $10.02.
- NZPA
