Shares in infrastructure investor Infratil edged ahead in early trading after the announcement the company, in a 50/50 consortium with the New Zealand Superannuation fund, had finalised the purchase of Shell New Zealand's downstream assets.For a purchase
Shares in infrastructure investor Infratil edged ahead in early trading after the announcement the company, in a 50/50 consortium with the New Zealand Superannuation fund, had finalised the purchase of Shell New Zealand's downstream assets.
For a purchase price of $696.5 million plus a working capital adjustment, the consortium is buying Shell New Zealand's distribution and retail businesses and 17.1 percent interest in the New Zealand Refining Co.
Infratil shares were up 2c to 167, in a modestly higher New Zealand sharemarket.
Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 4.21 points to 3244.69. On Friday it ended up 2.9 points after rising to the highest intraday level in more than two months, near 3247.
Movements at the start of the new week were muted, with retailer Hallenstein Glasson up 3c to 337, The Warehouse up 2c to 380, and Hellaby Holdings up 2c to 165. Rakon lost 3c to 96 and Michael Hill International down 2c to 69.
Among leading shares, Telecom was up 1c to 213, Fletcher Building added 1c to 842, and Contact Energy was unchanged on 623.
In the United States, news of the sinking of a South Korean ship hit sentiment on Friday (local time), although some analysts suggested the incident was an excuse for investors to sell stocks in what is increasingly viewed as an overvalued market.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.1 percent to end at 10,850.36, the Standard&Poor's 500 Index inched up 0.1 percent to 1166.59, but the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.1 percent to close at 2395.13.
