NZ stocks: Market closes slightly higher

Shares limped to a quiet close to mark the end of the financial quarter, despite signs of life on Wall Street and solid gains across the Tasman.

A hefty fall in top stock Telecom following announcements on mobile regulation by the Commerce Commission kept the market in check for much of the day.

Shortly before the market opened, the commission said it was to investigate whether the price of national mobile roaming should be regulated.

It also said that in a draft report it had recommended mobile termination prices be regulated.

Telecom closed down a cent at 273, having earlier hit a low of 265.

"It lost 7c pretty much on the opening bell, but it has since bounced back to be down only a couple of cents now, so not too bad a performance from them," said Hamilton Hindin Greene partner Grant Williamson.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 20.99 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 2796.11, following yesterday's modest 4.5-point gain.

Turnover totalled $180.1 million.

"Still lacking direction in the local market, and I think that's mainly due to a lack of local news," Mr Williamson said.

Pumpkin Patch jumped 14c, or 10 per cent, to 149 after the children's clothing retailer confirmed it would close unprofitable stores in the United States, leaving 15 open out of 35.

"Other comments made about quite robust trading in New Zealand and Australia, and debt at the lower end of their range, has seen their share price move up quite nicely," he said.

Fletcher Building rose 20c to 658, Contact Energy was up 10c at 585, Auckland Airport rose 3c to 161, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose a cent to 292 and F&P Appliances was also a cent higher, at 67.

Sky City gained 4c to 268, while Sky TV fell 6c to 416.

Among the larger moves, seafood exporter Sanford lost 11c to 539, NZX was down 10c at 720, Rakon lost 10c to 140 and Port of Tauranga gained 14c to 615.

Dual-listed stocks were generally stronger, with Westpac up 50c at 2500, ANZ up 25c at 2030 and AMP up 10c at 610, although Lion Nathan fell 10c to 1425.

In the wake of firmer shares on Wall Street, Australia's S&P/ASX-200 Index was up 1.5 per cent at 3944, and Japan's Nikkei share average rose 1.9 per cent.

US stocks rose on the back of higher oil prices and "window dressing" at the end of the quarter, in which fund managers enhance their portfolios by selling some of the period's losers and buying the winners.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.1 per cent and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.9 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was up just 0.3 per cent.

- NZPA