NZ market gives back early gains

The New Zealand sharemarket managed to finish ahead but off its best levels today.

Other markets in Asia did better in the wake of the Dow's breach of the 10,000 level for the first time on the back of a strong result from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In New Zealand, a 5c fall in Telecom to 257 acted as a break on the index and another surge in the NZ dollar to a 15 month high was seen as a pressure on exporters.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 4.806 points, or 0.151 per cent, at 3191.29, after initially being up 18.72 points.

Turnover was worth $97.8 million. There were 62 rises and 23 falls among the 116 stocks traded.

"It's been a solid day but not as spectacular as other markets," said Ross Cuthbert, investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners.

He said the announcement of lower management fees for PGG Wrightson by NZ Farming Systems Uruguay was well received and the stock rose 3c to 47.

Fletcher Building fell 3c to 789, Contact Energy eased a cent to 605 and Auckland Airport was unchanged at 203.

Dual-listed bank Westpac was up 60c to 3340 and ANZ was up 50c to 3100 after the strong result from JPMorgan Chase & Co. AMP rose 14 to 840.

Pan Pacific Petroleum rose 3c to 56 on a strong oil price. Abano Heathcare rose 5c to 655 after a major shareholder sold out yesterday.

After the market closed South Canterbury Finance, which has listed debt securities, said it would repay a US$100 ($135) million private facility over 5.5 months.

SkyCity rose 9c to 336 on ongoing improving economic data.

SkyTV rose 5c to 488, Steel and Tube rose 3c to 310 and APN News rose 12c to 282.

Hellaby rose 5c to 170 and Hallenstein Glasson rose 5c to 300.

In the US, The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.5 per cent to 10,015.86, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 1.8 per cent to 1092.02, and the Nasdaq Composite Index put on 1.5 per cent to 2172.23.

The Dow's rise above 10,000 is a symbol of how far the market has come since last year when investors fled collapsing financial markets as the economic outlook soured.

The index is up 52.9 per cent since the 12-year closing low of early March, but is still down 29.3 per cent from its October 2007 record close.

- NZPA