NZ stocks: NZ top 50 share index breaks the 2800 barrier

5.57PM

The benchmark top 50 index hit a new high today and closed just under the 2800 barrier, which it smashed earlier in the day, as the market rallied for the fifth straight session.

"It had a very strong day in defiance of the rest of the world yesterday and today it kicked on," said Goldman Sachs JBWere broker Joe Gallagher.

He said it was difficult to pinpoint reasons for this week's rally. Some people said buying by the New Zealand Superannuation Fund was behind the rally, he said, but he added there was no evidence the fund was doing anything out of the ordinary.

The NZSX-50 gross index high an all-time high of 2803.50 and closed up 5.02 points at 2799.75. The NZSX-All capital index closed up 2.16 points at 934.09.

This week's rally has been underpinned by Telecom which gained another 2c to 590 today. Mr Gallagher said Telecom was adjudged oversold especially in relation to Telstra and there had been some switching out of the Australian telco into the better yielding Telecom. Telstra finished unchanged on 506.

Star performer today was Hallenstein Glasson which bettered expectations with a record August year net profit of $17.16 million, 49.8 per cent up on last year. Mr Gallagher said that, unlike many New Zealand companies, the clothes retailer's Australian operations appeared to be going particularly well. The stock closed up 20c at 355.

Another strong performer was fishing company Sanford which announced it was close to buying most of the fishing assets of Auckland-based Simunovich Fisheries Limited and had also bought a 25 per cent stake in a seafood processing company in China.

In a statement to the stock exchange this afternoon Sanford said the Simunovich assets include fishing and scampi quota, vessels, equipment, workshop facilities and other operational assets. Its shares rose 17c to 450.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare continued its strong performance of this month since its release of two new products, rising 15c to 1475 today. Mr Gallagher said the company had been showing analysts its R&D facilities this week and had impressed with its growth options. He said the company had demonstrated it could branch into a number of consumer categories.

Auckland Airport gained 2c to 705, helped along by the Government's announcement it would be putting more money into customs services.

Air NZ recovered 2c to 182 following its battering this week in the wake of the court rejection of its alliance with Qantas. Chief executive Ralph Norris is meeting Qantas executives on Friday to see what pieces can be retrieved from the smashed plan.

ANZ Bank seemed none the worse from the Government's plan to recover a higher tax rate from tax avoiding Australian banks. It rose 8c to 1953. However, Westpac NZ fell 4c to 1736.

Others to slide against the tide included Carter Holt Harvey, 2c to 230, Ryman Healthcare, 7c to 320, Hellaby, 6c to 594, Baycorp Advantage, 11c to 328, and Trustpower, 8c to 452.

Contact Energy rose 3c to 600, Port of Tauranga gained 5c to 520 and Sky City rose 3c to 468.

The small stocks index rose 29.24 points to 7593.13 and the top 10 index rose 2.69 to 1126.96.

The turnover of 44.9 million shares, worth $132.7m, was boosted by $24m of Powerco shares traded. Powerco closed up 1c at 210.

Retailer Briscoe fell 5c to 132.

Among the smaller stocks, Pyne Gould Corp rose 15c to 600, Wakefield Hospital gained 6c to 318 and Mooring Systems rose 18c to 400.

There were 56 stocks up and 44 down among the 150 traded.

- NZPA