Fletcher Building climbs while Rakon hits new low

OceanaGold, which operates Macraes goldfield, rose 2.5 per cent to $3.26. Photo / Jim Eagles

New Zealand stocks rose slightly amid a global rally after the world's biggest central banks teamed up to reduce borrowing costs for European lenders, which may limit the impact of the region's debt crisis.

Fletcher, Westpac and ANZ rose.

The NZX-50 Index gained 7.1 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 3277.31. Within the index, 22 stocks rose, 17 fell and 11 were unchanged. Turnover was $85 million.

Equity markets rose across Asia. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed 2.1 per cent in afternoon trading, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 2.6 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 5.6 per cent after central banks led by the US Federal Reserve agreed to cut interest rates on dollar liquidity swap lines by 50 basis points. Stocks held their gains even after figures showed Chinese manufacturing shrank last month.

"People believe there is going to be resolution in Europe somehow," said Rickey Ward, domestic equities manager at Tyndall Investment Management.

Fletcher Building rose 2.5 per cent to $6.07 yesterday, having sunk to a two-year low this week. Steel & Tube Holdings climbed 5.5 per cent to $2.10, helped by government figures on Wednesday that showed the number of new dwellings approved, excluding apartments, rose a seasonally adjusted 7.1 per cent in October.

ANZ Bank rose 3.5 per cent to $26.80, Westpac gained 3.2 per cent to $27.65 and AMP rose 3.5 per cent to $5.63, tracking gains in their ASX-listed shares on optimism about the central banks' plans.

OceanaGold rose 2.5 per cent to $3.26. Pyne Gould was unchanged at 35c after George Kerr's Australasian Equity Partners Fund No 1 extended its takeover offer for a further seven days.

Rakon fell 5.6 per cent to 51c, a record-low close and the biggest decline on the NZX 50 yesterday. The stock is rated a "hold" based on a Reuters survey of analysts.

Chorus fell 2.7 per cent to $3.20. The company was assigned an investment grade credit rating of Baa2 on $1.7 billion of debt by Moody's Investors Service yesterday.

Telecom fell about 2 per cent to $1.99. Its credit rating was affirmed at A3 by Moody's, with the outlook raised to "stable" from "negative" following the completion of the demerger. BusinessDesk