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NZ sharemarket closes little changed after OCR standstill

The New Zealand sharemarket closed little changed on a day in which the Reserve Bank did as expected and left official interest rates at a record low 2.5%.The rate decision, and accompanying comments, were followed by a fall in the New Zealand dollar, whi

NZPA
Thu, 11 Mar 2010

The New Zealand sharemarket closed little changed on a day in which the Reserve Bank did as expected and left official interest rates at a record low 2.5%.

The rate decision, and accompanying comments, were followed by a fall in the New Zealand dollar, which ended at 69.80USc, down from 70.63USc yesterday.

News that respected businessmen, including Sam Morgan, Sir Stephen Tindall and Rod Drury had a vision to build a $900 million fibre optic cable from New Zealand and Australia to the US got extensive coverage but Telecom closed unchanged at $2.24. Telecom is a largest part owner of the existing Southern Cross Cable Network.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 2.746 points at 3223.446. Turnover was worth $79.3 million. There were 30 rises and 50 falls among the 115 shares traded.

Fletcher Building fell 2c to $8.09 but Contact Energy rose 4c to $6.13.

NZOG, which notified today that the Hoki-1 offshore exploration well it has a stake in has reached a depth of 1505m, fell 3c to $1.56.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 1c to $3.30 a day after publicising its new product range. Infratil was unchanged at $1.65 on a day in which it released an extensive briefing to investors.

Steel & Tube fell 4c to $2.65, Sky TV was unchanged at $5.05, and Mainfreight rose 3c to $6.15. Tourism Holdings fell 6c to 94c, Methven fell 5c to $1.75 and Guinness Peat Group fell 2c to 90c.

Wakefield Health eased 4c to 700 a day after announcing an expansion into the Bay of Plenty.

Xero rose 3c to $1.64 and Comvita rose 5c to $1.90.

In the US, bank and technology shares lifted Wall Street on hopes a revival in business demand will boost corporate profits.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up less than 3 points to end at 10,567.33, the S&P 500 Index added 0.45% to 1145.61 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.8% to 2358.95.

NZPA
Thu, 11 Mar 2010
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NZ sharemarket closes little changed after OCR standstill
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