NZ shares buoyed by blue chip gains

File photo / NZH

The New Zealand sharemarket continued to recover from last week's three-month low, holding onto gains made in early trade as blue chip stocks buoyed the market.

Stocks rose across the globe as risk appetite returned, following progress in resolving Japan's nuclear crisis.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 16.86 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 3365.2, having risen nearly 9 points yesterday.

Among the top stocks, Fletcher Building closed up 5c at 878, Contact Energy was up 2c at 576, Telecom gained 0.5c to 199, Sky City rose 3c to 336 and Sky TV was up 4c at 559.

Infrastructure investor Infratil was up 2c at 193, lines company Vector was up 5c at 246, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 4c at 313.

Freightways was up 6c at 312, while Mainfreight was unchanged at 870.

Retailer The Warehouse was up 3c at 342, jeweller Michael Hill International was a cent higher at 91, while clothing retailers Hallenstein Glasson and Pumpkin Patch were steady at 365 and 130 respectively. Outdoor clothing retailer Kathmandu rose 6c to 222.

Insurer and fund manager Tower was a cent higher at 174, stock exchange operator NZX fell a cent to 204, and accounting software developer Xero rose 4c to 252.

Just 11 stocks declined on the top-50, including a 4c fall for Methven to 152, a 7c fall for Steel & Tube to 252, a 1c fall for Air New Zealand to 111 and a 2c fall for Rakon to 104.

Australian banking stocks rose, with Westpac up 20c at 3120 and ANZ up 65c at 3185, while Telstra fell 4c to 361.

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was down a point at 4640. Japan's Nikkei share average was up 3.8 per cent this afternoon, having partly recovered from its 14 per cent slump last week on fears about its crippled nuclear reactor.

In the United States, buyers were enticed by the biggest proposed merger of the year.

AT&T rose 1.1 per cent after the company announced a US$39 billion ($53b) plan to buy Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA, refocusing investor attention on attractive company valuations.

- NZPA