Mainfreight shares rose further in early trade, after the company announced yesterday it had agreed to buy Netherlands-based transport and logistics firm Wim Bosman Group, despite broad weakness in the New Zealand sharemarket.
Mainfreight shares rose further in early trade, after the company announced yesterday it had agreed to buy Netherlands-based transport and logistics firm Wim Bosman Group, despite broad weakness in the New Zealand sharemarket.
After ending up 47c yesterday, Mainfreight put on another 16c in the first few minutes after the market opened today to a new high 875.
Despite that highlight, the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 6.36 points to 3423.7 around 10.15am, having gained 11.9 points yesterday.
Restaurant Brands fell 6c to 235 after reporting its sales fell 1.8 percent from a year earlier in the fourth quarter.
Fletcher Building dropped 6c to 878 early, Sky City fell 4c to 344, Cavalier Corp lost 2c to 332, Telecom dropped 2c to 213, and Steel&Tube was down 2c to 264.
Port of Tauranga gained 3c to 795, Abano Healthcare lifted 2c to 460, and Contact Energy edged up 1c to 610.
In the United States, stocks ended lower as higher oil prices weighed on the market.
Oil hit a two-year high early in the day after forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi launched airstrikes against opposition fighters at an oil port.
A sustained rise in the price of oil could hurt the economic recovery by raising transportation costs.
Based on preliminary data, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.7 percent to close at 12,090, the Standard&Poor's 500 index fell 0.8 percent to 1310, and the Nasdaq fell 1.4 percent to 2745.
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