APN News, Rakon lead sharemarket higher

NZ sharemarket rises outnumber declines

The New Zealand sharemarket had a broad-based rally today with the number of stocks rising nearly three times the number falling.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 26.283 points at 3021.187. The 0.878 per cent rise outpaced an Australian market that was up about half a per cent as New Zealand closed.

Fifty five stocks rose, while 20 fell. A total of 114 stock traded. But turnover was light, with stocks traded worth just $48.57 million.

Investors refocused on the upcoming local corporate reporting season as world share markets rallied on relief there were no nasty surprises in stress test reports for European banks at the weekend.

Only seven of 91 banks failed the tests, for an overall capital shortfall of 3.5 billion euros ($4.5 billion). The shortfall was much smaller than the 30-100 billion euros predicted by markets, although many European banks have already raised capital during the financial crisis.

"With the results of the stress tests, which had been the market's big focus, out in the open, downward factors seem to have run their course for now," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equity marketing at Nikko Cordial Securities.

In New Zealand, Rakon was back at levels not seen since early May, rising 3c to 101 today. Xero gave up some of last week's gains on news Sam Morgan upped his stake in the company, closing down 7c at 152 today.

Infratil rose 1c to 153 as Australian media speculated it is part of a consortium in the hunt for Port of Brisbane, which is being privatised.

Freightways rose a cent to 265 on a day rival NZ Post announced price rises.

APN News rose 13c to 255.

Auckland Airport rose 1c to 197 as its purchase of a stake in Queenstown Airport continued to attract public comment.

Among the leaders Telecom rose 1c to 197, Fletcher Building gained 10c to 773, Contact Energy rose 3c to 569 and SkyCity rose 3c to 299. F&P Healthcare was up 2c to 295.

Retailers attracted some interest with The Warehouse up 4c to 360, and Postie Plus adding 6c to 37.

NZ Refining fell 14c to 308, Telstra fell 3c to 396 and Steel & Tube fell 1c to 214.

In the United States on Friday (local time), General Electric delivered a shot of confidence to US investors when it raised its dividend by 20 per cent. The move spurred heavy institutional buying and sparked a decisive move higher, a positive sign of rising investor optimism.

"GE is a company whose tentacles extend throughout large parts of the economy, and (the hike) clearly shows they're (having) a bit more visibility on their future cash flows," said Adrian Cronje, chief investment officer of Atlanta-based wealth management firm Balentine.

Still, he noted the new 12c dividend was far below the 31c per quarter the company paid its shareholders before February 2009.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1 per cent to 10,424.62, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.8 per cent to 1102.66, and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 1.1 per cent to 2269.47.

- NZPA