Market close: shares rise, helped by Wall St, kiwi - Trade Me, Metlifecare gain

New Zealand shares rose after a rally on Wall Street helped lift equity markets across Asia and a gain in the kiwi dollar encouraged offshore investors. Auction site Trade Me led the advance and Metlifecare rose after lifting its cashflow guidance.

The NZX Index rose 19.075 points, or 0.4 percent from a two-month low to 4420.981. Within the index, 20 stocks rose, 23 fell and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $101 million.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 1.5 percent after better-than-expected retail sales and jobs data, and as investors pondered when the Federal Reserve will signal movement on policy.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose 3.5 percent in afternoon trading today, bouncing back from Thursday's selloff.

Trade Me rose 3.8 percent to $4.70 and has advanced 24 percent this year. The stock is rated a 'hold' based on a Reuters poll.

Metlifecare, the retirement village operator, rose 2.6 percent to $3.19 after saying 2013 operating cashflow would be $70 million, up from the guidance it gave last month of more than $60.7 million.

Telecom rose 2.8 percent to $2.22 and SkyCity Entertainment Group gained 2.1 percent to $4.32 after its talks with the government over the terms of a conference centre-for-gambling concessions deal were extended by two weeks.

"We're responding to a decent rally on Wall Street overnight and on the back of currencies bouncing back," says James Snell, director of institutional equities at First NZ Capital. Investors "seem to be focusing on what's next for the Fed. Do they start tapering off (on quantitative easing) or is it a precursor to raising rates".

Nuplex Industries, the specialty chemicals maker, rose 2 percent to $3.03 as a survey showed manufacturing activity rose in May to the highest level since June 2004, led by new orders and production.

The BNZ-BusinessNZ performance of manufacturing index rose 4 points to 59.2 in May, the strongest reading for May since the survey began in 2002.

Kathmandu, the outdoor equipment chain that has embarked on a crucial annual sale, rose 1.2 percent to $2.65. Hallenstein Glasson Holdings, the clothing chain that gave a profit warning yesterday, recovered some ground today, rising 0.4 percent to $4.97.

Warehouse Group, the biggest retailer on the bourse, fell 0.3 percent to $3.66. Pumpkin Patch, the children's clothing retailer, dropped 4.8 percent to 99 cents.

Ebos Group ended the session up 0.2 percent to $9.57 after shareholders approved its $1.1 billion purchase of Australian pharmaceutical wholesaler and distributor Symbion.

Mainfreight rose 1.4 percent to $10.50 and Fletcher Building gained 0.5 percent to $8.18.

(BusinessDesk)