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New Zealand sharemarket closes little changed on mixed trading

The New Zealand sharemarket was little changed on a day in which Asian markets put worries about a monetary policy tightening in China aside and the strength of the Australian economy again caught investors' attention.The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up

NZPA
Thu, 14 Jan 2010

The New Zealand sharemarket was little changed on a day in which Asian markets put worries about a monetary policy tightening in China aside and the strength of the Australian economy again caught investors' attention.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 2.138 points, or 0.06%, at 3278.333. Turnover was worth $85.95 million. There were 30 rises and 32 falls among the 106 stocks traded. The index has fallen on each of the past three days, after reaching a 15-month high last Friday.

Strength in the New Zealand dollar was seen as a negative for exporters but a higher than expected rise in employment data in Australia underlined the strength of that economy and was positive for companies operating there.

The challenges facing retailers were underlined by the suspension of NZAX-listed Eastern HiFi after receivers were appointed to the home entertainment specialist. Receivers also requested that ProvencoCadmus be delisted.

Shares in Steel&Tube rose 2c to $2.98. They started to climb in mid-December, and today traded as high as $3.03.

Leaders were mixed with Fletcher Building down a cent at $8.44, while Contact Energy was unchanged at $6.32. Telecom was down 2c at $2.50.

The finance sector was strong with ANZ up $1.24 to $28.39, Westpac up 95c to $31.95, AMP up 18c to $8.05 and Tower up 3c to $2.18.

Pike River Coal rose 1c to 99c and NZOG eased a cent to $1.62 on a day in which the oil price fell to its lowest level this year. NZ Refining eased 2c to $3.73. Horizon eased 5c to $3.85.

The Warehouse fell 4c to $4.04 and Hellaby eased 5c to $1.65, but Michael Hill was unchanged at 72c.

Restaurant Brands rose 1c to $1.76, Tourism Holdings rose 6c to 98c and SkyTV rose 4c to $5.19.

Auckland Airport eased 2c to $1.93. About 2.1 million Allied farmers shares traded and the stock ended at 11.5c.

Comvita rose 12c to $1.72, PGG Wrightson rose 2c to 66c and Mowbray eased 4c to 95c.

• In the US, Wall Street closed higher, following the lead of financial stocks as the heads of several big banks testified before Congress about the financial crisis.

Stocks fluctuated early in the day but strengthened as the questioning of bank officials proceeded with little in the way of confrontation.

Industries seen as safer in a weak economy, such as health care and utilities, posted some of the biggest gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 53.51 points, or 0.5%, to 10,680.77, the broader S&P 500 index rose 9.46 points, or 0.8%, to 1145.68 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 25.59 points, or 1.1% to 2307.90.

NZPA
Thu, 14 Jan 2010
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New Zealand sharemarket closes little changed on mixed trading
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