Airport flies high, Tenon gains in shortened trade

Auckland Airport led the NZX 50 higher, rising 2.3 per cent to $6.66. Photo / Dean Purcell

New Zealand shares rose in abbreviated trading ahead of the Christmas holiday, led by blue-chip stocks including Auckland International Airport and Spark New Zealand, while Tenon gained on the prospect of it selling its remaining assets.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index advanced 25.11 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 6876.99, extending its run of gains to six sessions.

Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 16 declined, and 11 were unchanged. Turnover was $57.6 million, some $9.1m of that on trading in A2 Milk shares, which fell, with light trading in the run-up to Christmas and the stock exchange settling at the earlier time of 1.30pm.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 0.3 per cent at 5627.9.

Auckland Airport led the NZX 50 higher, rising 2.3 per cent to $6.66, while Spark gained 1.8 per cent to $3.45.

Port of Tauranga was up 1.6 per cent to $3.79 and Meridian Energy increased 1.6 per cent to $2.575. Heartland Bank also gained 2 per cent to $1.50.

"Unsurprisingly, there was not a deal of news out there," said Matt Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management in Auckland.

"The markets don't close, and we certainly intend to carry on," Goodson said.

"What tends to happen is that there's a lot less research written and a lot less company-specific news."

Warehouse Group posted the biggest decline on the benchmark index, falling 2.4 per cent to $2.80 ahead of the final flurry of Christmas trading.

Earlier this week the country's biggest listed retailer warned performance was weaker than expected in the run-up to the all-important Christmas period.

Among other stocks to fall, A2 Milk dropped 2.3 per cent to $2.09 on turnover of $9.1m, while Argosy Property slipped 1 per cent to $1, and Vector declined 1 per cent to $3.13.

Outside the benchmark index, Tenon said it's holding exclusive talks with a potential buyer of its New Zealand assets, which if successful would see the entity return surplus cash. The shares rose 4.6 per cent to $2.30, and shares of Rubicon, which controls Tenon, gained 4.8 per cent to 22c.

IkeGPS, which makes laser measurement tools, was unchanged at 39c after Harbour Asset Management said it sold its 7.4 per cent stake at 31.2c apiece on market in trading on Thursday.