NZ market makes up ground ahead of holidays

The New Zealand sharemarket built on early gains in a pre-holiday session featuring little in the way of corporate news.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 19.14 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 3319.10 following yesterday's 25-point fall.

Blue chip Fletcher Building held on to its initial 4c gain to close at 770, after no reaction yesterday when Crane Group directors rejected its offer.

Contact Energy jumped 10c to 624 to make up all of yesterday's losses which were incurred on the back of rain across the country thought likely to bring wholesale electricity prices down.

Telecom rose 2c to 223, Auckland Airport was a cent higher at 217, Fisher & Paykel Appliances gained 3c to 54, Sky TV was 4c higher at 527 and casino operator Sky City was up 4c at 333.

During the busiest time of year for retailers, The Warehouse jumped 7c to 365, children's clothing company Pumpkin Patch rose 8c to 167, outdoor equipment retailer Kathmandu was up 5c at 178 but Hallenstein Glasson lost a cent to 409.

Jeweller Michael Hill, subject to a partial takeover bid from the Hill family, was a cent higher at 88.

Durante Holdings was offering 90c per share to buy 5 per cent of the shares it does not already own, taking its holding to 50.2 per cent.

Air New Zealand was unchanged at 149 after Transport Minister Steven Joyce gave the green light today to the proposed trans-Tasman alliance with Virgin Blue.

Fast food franchiser Restaurant Brands was up 6c at 272.

On the decline, Abano Healthcare lost 2c to 485 after a fall in interim profit, Guinness Peat Group fell a cent to 70, Rakon fell 3c to 117 and Mainfreight lost 7c to 795.

Across the Tasman, Australia's S&P/ASX-200 Index was up 0.8 per cent at 4774, while Japan's Nikkei share average was up 1.3 per cent.

Earlier in the United States, gains in energy shares pushed stocks higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 hit a two-year high as equities continued their steady upward march.

- NZPA