NZ sharemarket lifts a little

Prices on the New Zealand sharemarket lifted a little today, with the benchmark NZX50 index edging up 0.126 percent, despite falls in early trading as United States stock prices slipped.

In the USA, investors were worried that the Federal Reserve cut its forecasts for US economic growth this year and next, without hinting at further plans for stimulus, and in Australia the ASX was similarly soft.

In New Zealand the NZX-50 index finished up 4.349 points to 3461.806, having ended down 2.1 points yesterday.

Overall, 46.7 million shares changed hands, at a combined value of $139m, and falls outnumbered rises 46 to 29 among the 110 stocks traded.

Among the market leaders, cornerstone stock Telecom jumped 7c to 248. Across the Tasman, Australia cleared a key hurdle on Thursday in setting up a $A38 billion high-speed broadband system after Telecom rival Telstra agreed to rent out its Australian network to help carry high-speed Internet access to more than 90 percent of Australian households using fibre-optic cable.

And insurer Tower Ltd rose 4c to finish at 159 after it forecast a further $7 million to $11 million in extra costs from last week's big aftershocks in Christchurch, in addition to the $15 million-$20 million impact arising from the February 22 tremor which killed 181 people. 
 Freightways lost 11c to 324, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 5c to 281, while Mainfreight gained 2c to 1012.

Among energy stocks, Australian-controlled Contact fell 6c to 545, but Trustpower rose 4c to 725, and Vector rose 1c to 257.

Auckland Airport slipped 1.5c to 224.5, and Warehouse fell 3c to 3.45.

Australian stocks fell 0.7 percent sending the benchmark index down to test the 4500-level as banks, miners and Woodside Petroleum declined in the face of the uncertainty over the US, and European economies. Similar concerns softened the market further when economic data showed factory growth in China was almost at a standstill.
The benchmark ASX200 index fell 32.1 points to 4500.5.

In the US, investors looking for a reason to sell received one from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, who had little positive to say at a news conference following a two-day Fed policy meeting.

"Everyone decided that was a 'sell' signal," said Albert Meyer, portfolio manager of Mirzam Capital Appreciation Fund in Plano, Texas.

"It's nothing new. We didn't expect anyone to come out and say the economy is growing."

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 0.7 percent to end at 12,109.67, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.7 percent to 1287.14, and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.7 percent to close at 2669.19.