Market close: Share rise slightly

Wednesday 20th August 2008

The sharemarket rose slightly today with the NZSE50 up 0.38% to end the day at 3,332.

Among top stocks, Telecom surged 2.2% and Fletcher Building increased 3.4%, while Contact Energy dipped 0.4%.

In the retail sector, The Warehouse Group advanced 1.2% and Pumpkin Patch gained 0.6%, while jeweller Michael Hill and Hallenstein Glasson closed unchanged.

Among major gainers, Metlifecare was up 4.65%, OceanaGold increased 3.90%, Steel & Tube Holdings jumped 2.5% and Methven advanced 1.8%.

Major losers included Heritage Gold who dropped 10.71%, Just Water International dipped 6.25%, L & M Petroleum lost 5.88%, Sanford 2.4%, Sky Network Television 2.0%, SkyCity 1.7% and New Zealand Oil & Gas 2.0%.

Banks decreased again with ANZ down 1.8%, WBC dipped 1.42%.

Port of Tauranga gained 0.87% after Ports of Auckland said they may revisit merger talks with rival Port of Tauranga to create economies of scale in the container trade.

The maker of biological control agents, Botry-Zen, jumped 50% after announcing it has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to assess its financial position and options after failing to raise capital from shareholders.

Tourism Holdings, New Zealand’s biggest campervan company, was down .7% after predicting challenging times for the industry over the next 18 months, which may lead to a shakeout in the number of operators.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 63.1 points, or 1.3%, to close at 4929.5, with resource stocks staging a comeback.

US stocks fell overnight following a hefty jump in wholesale inflation. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 130.84 points, or 1.14%, to close at 11,348.55.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 11.91, or 0.93%, to 1,266.69, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 32.62, or 1.35%, to 2,384.36.

NZ Top 50	3,332.025	+12.906 (+0.39%)
ASX 200	4,929.500	+63.100 (+1.30%)
Dow	11,348.55	-130.84 (-1.14%)
Nasdaq	2,384.36	-32.62 (-1.35%)
FTSE 100	5,320.40	-129.80 (-2.38%)

AIA	1.98	0.00
AIR	1.26	0.00
AMP	7.95	+0.04
ANZ	19.70	-0.37
APN	3.86	0.00
APT	1.05	-0.02
CAV	2.60	0.00
CEN	8.60	-0.03
EBO	4.80	+0.04
FBU	7.03	+0.23
FPA	1.88	0.00
FPH	2.96	+0.01
FRE	3.30	+0.01
GFF	1.83	-0.01
GMT	1.16	-0.02
GPG	1.53	+0.02
HLG	2.85	0.00
IFT	2.22	+0.02
IMP	1.08	0.00
ING	0.79	0.00
KIP	1.12	0.00
LNN	10.60	-0.09
MFT	7.12	-0.02
MHI	0.90	0.00
MVN	1.68	+0.03
NPX	6.26	-0.14
NZO	1.45	-0.03
NZR	7.00	+0.07
NZS	1.60	-0.02
NZX	7.65	+0.08
PFI	1.16	-0.01
PGW	2.95	+0.11
POT	6.98	+0.06
PPL	1.60	+0.01
PRC	1.77	+0.01
RAK	3.06	+0.03
RYM	1.73	+0.01
SAN	6.00	-0.15
SKC	3.50	-0.06
SKL	0.97	+0.01
SKT	4.93	-0.10
STU	3.35	+0.08
TEL	3.29	+0.07
THL	1.41	-0.01
TLS	5.28	-0.04
TPW	7.90	+0.04
TWR	2.30	+0.01
VCT	2.28	-0.02
WBC	27.16	-0.39
WHS	3.45	+0.04

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