NZ stocks: Market stretches rally into fifth day

The sharemarket today eked out its fifth straight session gain after it had looked as if the rally had run out of puff mid-afternoon.

"It's fair to say the market is having a pause today after a pretty solid rally but the pause was only in places," said ABN Amro Craigs broker James Lock.

He noted that some stocks such as NGC (up 6c to 230), NZX (up 3c to 575) and Freightways (up 3c to 232) continued to rally.

Market leader Telecom continued to underpin the market, rising another 1c to 545 after trading a 542-546 range. Turnover was worth $13 million.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed 2.32 points ahead at 2475.20, while the NZSX-40 capital index rose 4.32 points to 2303.53.

There were $48.6 million worth of shares traded on volume of 15.4 million. Among the 143 stocks traded, 52 rose and 41 fell.

Retail stocks continued to hold much of the focus.

The Warehouse, which traded as high as 537 in the morning, closed square on 534 after testing support at 530. Homeware retailer Briscoe eased 1c to 175 while Michael Hill International also held steady at 500. Hallensten Glasson rose 3c to 279.

Rural services company Wrighton gained 3c to 151 despite the New Zealand dollar's climb this week to above US67c. Other stocks vulnerable to the currency also shrugged off its big run. Fishing company Sanford rose 4c to 525 and carpet maker Cavalier rose 4c to 560.

Last year's star performer, TrustPower, continued its good run, rising another 20c to 690 today.

Contact Energy rose 4c to 548, responding to news that power prices are already on the rise this year. Horizon Energy gained 10c to 385.

Carter Holt Harvey fell 1c at 188 after speculation that its paper tissue division could be sold to Swedish firm SCA Svenska Cellulosa.

Lion Nathan rose 10c to a new record of 705 on news that beer drinkers had been slaking their thirst in the hot summer. DB was untraded today.

Independent Newspapers fell 4c to 510, Waste Management fell 3c to 420, and Sky TV fell 4c to 550.

Mooring Systems continued its good run, rising 15c to 230. Another good performer, Hellaby, rose 5c to 500 while Infratil rose 4c to 282 and GRD rose 6c to 232.

Ryman Healthcare fell 6c to 216 as did Vending Technologies to 134. However, the largest slide today was Software of Excellence, which fell 19c to 186, more than wiping out Monday's 15c gain.

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Meanwhile, shares on the rise today included: AMP up 5c at 580, Cavalier up 4c at 560, Freightways up 3c at 232, Lion Nathan up 10c at 705, NZX up 3c at 575, Telstra up 6c at 562, and Sky City up 3c at 465.

Among those on the slide were: Air NZ down 1c at 46, Auckland International Airport down 10c at 700, Fletcher Building down 4c at 428, Software down 25c at 180, and Baycorp Advantage down 2c at 310.

There had been $18,067 worth of shares traded on New Zealand Alternative Exchange so far today.

Overseas, the Dow Jones sagged 30 points to 10,514.07, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index eased 1.57 points to 1120.65, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 5.10 points to 2052.46.

- NZPA