NZ stocks: Market gains across the board

6.30pm

The New Zealand sharemarket ended the week on a positive note with the number of stocks on the rise doubling those that fell into the red.

The NZSX-50 gross index closed up 1.42 points, or 0.06 per cent, at 2274.21, and the top-40 index was up 0.08 per cent at 2177.24.

Topping turnover of 27.75 million stocks valued at $73.93 million was Telecom's $35.4 million.

Alan Wills of Forsyth Barr Frater Williams said the New Zealand market had continued its good run despite falls on markets elsewhere.

"There's been particular interest in the stocks outside the four or five leaders today.

"The market seems to be very resilient to falls offshore..." Mr Wills said.

Domestic-centred stocks involved in areas such as construction, tourism and services were performing well at present.

"I think there's confidence about the direction of the New Zealand economy. Most companies here are doing well -- there's a bit of pain in the export sector but those in the domestic scene are strong."

Low interest rates and good performances on the sharemarket have meant money was being attracted to equities, Mr Wills said.

Market leader Telecom lost 1c to 517, Carter Holt Harvey was down 6c at 168, and Contact Energy lost 1c to 494.

Tower soared 8c to 128 today after rumours that Promina was interested in buying the general insurance business of the New Zealand-based company.

The Australian Financial Review speculated today that Promina was on the acquisition path with New Zealand's fifth largest general insurer in its sights after comments from a New Zealand-based Promina executive.

However, Promina told the AFR there was no deal on the table.

Elsewhere on the market, Fletcher Building was up 6c at 425, The Warehouse rose 2c to 545, Sky City was up 8c at 866, AMP rose 9c to 750, Fisher & Paykel Appliances rose 4c to 1475, and F&P Healthcare gained 5c to 1265.

Among the retailers, Pacific Retail rose to a seven-month high of 255 today, up 8c, Briscoe Group fell 1c to 183, and clothing group Hallenstein Glasson was up 10c at 300 after announcing an annual profit of $11.46 million, little changed from the previous year.

Independent Newspapers Ltd was up 1c at 456, while its takeover target Sky TV rose 3c to 505.

Auckland Airport fell 2c to 665, NZX lost 7c to 440, and Restaurant Brands was down 2c at 123.

There were 60 rises and 29 falls on the 138 stocks traded.

Australian stocks recouped some of yesterday's losses, with ANZ up 5c at 2050, Westpac up 20c at 1750 and AMP up 9c at 750, although Telstra lost 1c to 559.

In Australia the key S&P/ASX200 index was up 0.06 per cent at 3174.7 in late afternoon trading.

On Wall St the Dow Jones industrial average fell 81.55 points to 9343.96, and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 6.12 points to 1003.26.

- NZPA