Back in black: NZ shares return to record high

Back in black: Brian Johnson of AC/DC during the concert at Western Springs, December 2015 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Brett Phibbs.

Hey, hey hey hey, the NZX-50 is back in black (to borrow a line from veteran rockers AC/DC).

In what should hopefully translate to good news for KiwiSaver funds, the local market touched a new record this afternoon shaking off months of volatility.

Most KiwiSaver funds posted negative returns in the first three months of this year after a dramatic slump in sharemarkets around the world, in early February.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 0.9 per cent in the first quarter while global shares fell 2.7 per cent in the MSCI Global Index.

The index closed at t 8619 points this afternoon - surpassing the previous high at 8608 on March 21.

Broadly it has held up well compared to Wall Street which fell more than 10 per cent into correction territory during February.

But the S&P/NZX 50 Index has been on a roll since April 26 rising steadily - up almost 4 per cent in just over a fortnight.

The retirement sector led gainers today, with Ryman Healthcare up 3.1 per cent to $10.99, Metlifecare rising 1.9 per cent to $5.91, and Summerset Group advanced 1.6 per cent to $7.18.

A2 Milk rose 1.1 per cent to $12.89 and New Zealand Refining Co gained 0.8 per cent to $2.41.

Heartland Bank was the worst performer, down 1.7 per cent to $1.75.

Fletcher Building dropped 1.2 per cent to $6.45.

Vector dipped 0.6 per cent to $3.21. Chair Michael Stiassny says he won't seek re-election at this year's annual meeting because he no longer has the support of controlling shareholder Entrust Trustees, which owns 75.1 percent of Vector and represents its electricity network customers.

Scales Corp gained 0.2 per cent to $4.76. After the market closed, Scales announced it has agreed to sell its coldstorage businesses for $151.4 million to Emergent Cold, a global cold chain company that recently acquired the Swire coldstorage assets in Australia and Vietnam.

The transaction is subject to Overseas Investment Office approval.

- Additional reporting BusinessDesk