The New Zealand sharemarket managed to post modest gains on a day in which many companies updated shareholders on trading at annual shareholder meetings.But the updates were largely cautious and in line with expectations, leaving investors with little to
The New Zealand sharemarket managed to post modest gains on a day in which many companies updated shareholders on trading at annual shareholder meetings.
But the updates were largely cautious and in line with expectations, leaving investors with little to go on. Australian banks continued to report bumper profits and Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard surprised no one by leaving the official cash rate unchanged at 3 percent.
Explaining his decision, Dr Bollard highlighted recent economic data that was weaker than expected, while pointing to support coming from continued high export prices, and reconstruction after the Canterbury earthquake.
The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 9.663 points, or 0.295 percent, at 3290.001.
Sky Television, Freightways, Lyttelton Port, New Image, PGG Wrightson and Auckland Airport were among the companies holding annual meetings today.
James Lee, head of institutional equities at First NZ Capital, said statements from companies at the meetings were very benign.
"Things are okay and guidance was consistent but there haven't been any real surprises. It is early in the year to give much guidance," he said.
After the market closed, insurer Tower said it will let its bid for Fidelity Life lapse. Tower shares closed down 2c to 186.
ANZ rose 61c to 32210 after reporting a bumper profit and Telecom rose 3c to 207.
SkyTV arguably had the strongest presentation to investors today and it rose 6c to 535. Auckland Airport fell 1c to 210, Freightways fell 3c to 304 and PGG Wrightson was unchanged at 55. Contact Energy eased 1c to 586 and NZOG eased 3c to 128.
Fisher&Paykel Healthcare fell 1c to 318, The Warehouse was down 4c to 400, and Pike River Coal fell 1c to 104.
Fletcher Building rose 18c to 820 and Port of Tauranga rose 10c to 740. Nuplex rose 2c to 336 and TrustPower rose 2c to 756. NZX rose 1c to 157.
In the United States, stocks fell as investors dialled back expectations of how aggressively the Federal Reserve will act to stimulate the economy.
With the uncertain outcomes of US mid-term elections and a Fed meeting next week, traders positioned themselves for more volatile markets. Materials stocks, which have rallied in recent weeks on expectations of heavy stimulus, were the day's biggest decliners.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.4 percent to 11,126.28, and the Standard&Poor's 500 Index lost 0.3 percent to 1182.45, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.2 percent to 2503.26.
