NZ sharemarket closes up for sixth day in a row

New Zealand's NZX 50 closed up again today as some analysts said investors were acclimatising to the post-tsunami environment and prices of commodities used as raw materials were clawing back lost ground.

"Anxieties about the nuclear issues aren't gone yet, but the situation is improving," Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at Nikko Cordial Securities, told Boomberg newsagency. "Some industries and stocks that declined significantly lately will be bought back."

The Japanese market's benchmark Nikkei 225 index plunged 10% last week on concerns the effects of the earthquake and damaged reactors would hurt a recovery in the world's third-largest economy.

Investors have been similarly unsettled by the situation in Libya, and questions over how far western powers would got to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi. Melbourne-based market strategist at IG markets Ben Potter said there were a myriad of questions over both Japan and Libya.

"The market wants some answers to these questions before it makes its next move," he said.

But in the New Zealand sharemarket, investors rallied after the nation's biggest company, Fonterra, which has no direct exposure in the sharemarket, reported a 21% lift in revenue, for the six months to January 31, to $9.4 billion, on the back of higher dairy prices. It posted an interim after-tax profit of $293 million, and confirmed that farmers -- and regional economies -- will share a $10 billion payout bonanza.

The NZX-50 began climbing sharply just before lunch and rose as high as 3376 points by mid afternoon, before consolidating to finish at 3375.79 points, up 10.56 points (0.3%).

A total of 32.2 million shares changed hands, valued at $111.8 million. The NZX-50 closed up 16.86 points on Tuesday.

Fletcher Building rose 7c to 885 after it announced it now controls more than 71% of the stock in pipemaker Crane Group.

Cornerstone stock Telecom lifted 2c to 200 as the Commerce Commission said competition was restricted by market conditions on the unbundled bitstream access (UBA) backhaul links which let rival companies supply broadband services without having to replicate Telecom's copper local loop. That backhaul service will remain regulated.

Goodman Property rose 1c to 93 and Vector rose 3c to 249, while Contact Energy rose 3c to 579. Mainfreight dropped 2c to 868, Auckland Airport lifted 3.5c to 218 and Infratil eased a cent to 192.

Australian stocks ended up 0.2%, as investors focused on banks -- seen as the safest bet amid uncertainty over fighting in Libya and other tensions in the world's largest oil exporting region, and the Japanese crises.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index picked up 9 points to close at 4652.4, according to the latest data, following a flat session on Tuesday.