MARKET CLOSE: NZX50 jumps late in day's trading

Tuesday 17th May 2011

New Zealand's benchmark stock index, the NZX-50, kicked up against trends in overseas markets to close 0.4% higher today at 3556.12 as large-capitalisation stocks bounced.

The NZX-50 ignited and jumped 11 points at mid-afternoon after lifting in early trading and then trundling along in a narrow range.

It finished up 14.187 points for the day.

In early trading, infrastructure investor Infratil (NZX: IFT ) reported a full-year operating surplus of $173 million compared to $90 million a year earlier. This pushed its share price up 4c or 2.1% to 194, the price at which it closed, a 2.11% gain.

The NZX-50 index gained 8.1 points yesterday and by mid-morning has edged up another 0.22 points to 3544.09.

Cornerstone stock Telecom (NZX: TEL ) made good on yesterday's promise - when it equalled its 14-month high of $2.35 in intraday trading - and finished up 2c to $2.36.5.

Other big rises for the day included OceanaGold (NZX: OGC ), up 4c to $3.05, Cavalier Corp (NZX: CAV ) lifted 2.2%, up 8c to $3.65, and NZ Refining Co (NZX: NZR ) was up 3c to $4.56.

Retailer The Warehouse (NZX: WHS ) lost 5c to $3.70 early, Mainfreight (NZX: MFT ) finished on par at $9.35, and Pyne Gould Corp (NZX: PGC ) fell 3.2% - by 1c to $3.00 - as nearly five million shares changed hands.

Australian shares also traded flat for large parts of the day, but lifted later in the day, buoyed by the top miners after copper prices continued to rebound.

At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 33.9 points, or 0.7%, higher at 4683.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 28.8 points, or 0.6%, to 4753.

In the US, stocks fell as investors sold recent winners in a sign of growing unease with pockets of US economic weakness.

Worries about the market's ability to extend its recent gains are growing, with the expected end to the Federal Reserve's stimulus programme next month and the recent collapse in commodity prices making investors prone to sell more volatile stocks that have outperformed in 2011.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.4% to close at 12,548.37, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 0.6% to end at 1329.47, and the Nasdaq Composite Index slid 1.6% to 2782.31.

NZPA

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