The New Zealand sharemarket rose for its eighth consecutive trading day today even though the United States market took a break from a strong earnings season fuelled rally on Wednesday.
The NZSX-50 index closed up 18.19 points, or 0.627 per cent, at 2918.633, on top of its 27.3-point gain yesterday.
The index passed the 2900 level for the first time in nine months yesterday.
Turnover today was worth $126 million. There were 45 rises and 28 falls among the 115 stocks traded.
Fletcher Building lifted 24c to 714 after profit-taking yesterday saw it drop 14c following a rise from 640 at the start of the month.
"On the whole there is a little bit more optimism about but still volumes are nothing to get overly excited about," said Hamilton Hindin Greene director Adrian Vance.
The leading stocks were attracting buyers. Sentiment had been helped by the profit upgrade by SkyCity this week, he said.
The casino operator rose another 4c today to 320.
Fisher and Paykel Appliances, a strong performer of late, rose 3c to 78 today.
PGG Wrightson fell 4 to 94 on a day in which it was announced that Craig Norgate has stepped down from his position as chairman.
Telecom eased 2c to 281.
Auckland Airport rose 3c to 164 after announcing the signing of a joint venture to build a $65m Novotel hotel at the airport. Air New Zealand rose 3c to 98.
Mainfreight rose 7c to 427 and TrustPower rose 11c to 761. Port of Tauranga rose 10c to 640. Cavalier rose 12c to 212.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare rose 5c to 312 and The Warehouse 2c to 375. Ryman rose 2c to 163.
Xero rose 3c to 143 and the company was positive about its growth prospects at its annual meeting today.
Brokers said the US market will have one of the busiest days yet for corporate earnings on Thursday (US time), so there will be a lot of information to absorb for investors.
The Dow Jones industrial average declined on Wednesday, halting a seven-day winning streak, as investors sold some of the market's recent winners to take profits.
The Nasdaq rose on Wednesday for the 11th straight day, buoyed by solid profits from Apple Inc.
"Today's action is a relative positive in that you had some earnings come out that were good, but we are actually near the top of the range," said Richard Sparks, senior equities analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.
"There's a kind of a pause until we get more news on both the earnings and the economic front."
The Dow Jones industrial average shed 34.68 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 8881.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped just 0.51 of a point, or 0.05 per cent, to 954.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 10.18 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 1926.38.
- NZPA
The New Zealand sharemarket rose for its eighth consecutive trading day today even though the United States market took a break from a strong earnings season fuelled rally on Wednesday.
The NZSX-50 index closed up 18.19 points, or 0.627 per cent, at 2918.633, on top of its 27.3-point gain yesterday.
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