NZ sharemarket rises as world markets rally
Strong corporate earnings in both the US and Europe boosted global markets.
Strong corporate earnings in both the US and Europe boosted global markets.
The New Zealand sharemarket rose today in the wake of sharp rises by major stock markets after strong corporate earnings in both the US and Europe.
The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 19.593 points, or 0.6%, to 3492.396 after rising 16.9 points in early trading. The index is at its highest level since June 2008, having yesterday gained 32.8 points.
"Across Asia, regional markets are ending the Easter-shortened week on a positive note, with all indices firmly in the black following the very strong corporate earnings and economic data out of the US overnight," said Ben Potter at IG Markets. "It's all about risk at the moment.
"The pickup in corporate earnings and economic data over the last 48 hours has seen money flood back into risk assets."
Fletcher Building was up 13c to 921, Port of Tauranga added 11c to 851, Mainfreight lifted 4c to 929, Sky TV was up 5c to 584, Sky City lifted 4c to 346 and Kathmandu was up 5c to 246.
Hallenstein Glasson rose 4c to 398 and Contact Energy rose 5c to 586.
The stocks falling included Telecom, down 2c to 213.5, Ebos Group, down 13c to 730, Tower down 3c to 185 and NZ Refining down 5c to 450.
Sanford dropped 5c to 560 and Vital Healthcare eased a cent to 109.
World equities, as measured by the MSCI All-Country World Index, advanced 2.1%, extending the previous session's 0.5% rise and further recovering from Monday's 1.6% loss.