The New Zealand sharemarket turned positive today as Telecom
shares recovered and retailers reported mixed results.
The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 9.226 points, or 0.293
percent, at 3160.997, having opened down 4.538 points.
Telecom ended 2c higher at $2.04 after falling 11c yesterday
when it did not make a prioritised list for a portion of the
Government's ultra-fast broadband project.
Analysts said the priority areas excluded the cities of
Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch so there was more to
play out in the situation.
Allied Farmers rose to 3.4c after announcing an earlier than
expected settlement of the sale of its Five Mile property
early in the session. Late in the day it disclosed an
unaudited $77.58 million loss after writing off goodwill for
its collapsed finance company.
Retailer Briscoe Group was unchanged at $1.25 after reporting
a strong rise in underlying earnings, which it attributed to
cost control and aggressive promotional activity in a
difficult trading environment.
The Warehouse rose 1c to $3.70 after it announced a $83.2
million net profit after tax for the year ended August 1,
down 2.4 percent from last year. After reducing $22.8m
relating to government tax charges, the net profit after tax
was down 21.6 percent to $60.2m.
Fletcher Building rose 3c to $8.25, Cavalier Carpets fell 4c
to $2.76 and Steel & Tube rose 4c to $2.50.
Rakon eased a cent to $1.19 after signalling an annual profit
in the range of $25m to $30m at its annual meeting.
Nuplex eased 1c to $3.38. Contact Energy rose 3c to $5.74,
New Zealand Oil & Gas eased 3c to $1.28, and New Zealand
Refining rose 3c to $3.25.
In US, stocks rose as better-than-expected jobs and trade
data helped lift optimism about the economic recovery,
although sentiment was fragile as investors fretted over
European banks.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 28.23 points, or 0.27
percent to 10,415.24. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
rose 5.31 points, or 0.48 percent to 1104.18. The Nasdaq
Composite Index added 7.33 points, or 0.33 percent, to
2236.20.
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