NZX CLOSE: NZ shares rise; Cavalier up on guidance, ALF extends slide

Monday 22nd February 2010

New Zealand shares rose, with Westpac leading gains in Australian or dual-listed companies as the S&P/ASX 200 Index rose, and Cavalier advancing after the carpet maker lifted its earnings guidance.

The NZX 50 Index rose 22.66, or 0.7%, to 3129.75, the fourth gain in five sessions. Within the index, 32 stocks rose, nine fell and nine were unchanged. Turnover was a higher-than-average $119.5 million.

Stocks rallied across Asia and prices of commodities such as oil gained amid speculation Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will signal US. interest rates will remain at historical lows when he addresses the Congress this week, helping nrture growth in the world’s biggest economy.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.8% in late afternoon trading while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 2.6%.

Pan Pacific Petroleum (NZX: PPP ) rose 5.3% to 40 cents, leading the NZX 50 higher as the price of oil advanced. New York crude oil climbed above US$80 a barrel during Asia’s day on optimism central banks will keep in place stimulus measures which are helping revive the global economy.

New Zealand Oil & Gas (NXZ:NZO) rose 2% to $1.54.

Westpac (NZX: WBC ) advanced 3.5% to $33.35 on the NZX, mirroring a rally in financials on the ASX. AMP (NZX: AMP ), Australia’s biggest provider of pension plans, climbed 1.8% to $8.09.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (NZX: ANZ ) rose 2.3% to $28.90.

“The Australian market was pretty good across the board and dual-listed companies helped push the market along,” said Stephen Walker, head of asset management at Goldman Sachs JBWere.

Skellerup Holding (NZX: SKL ), the agricultural and rubber goods manufacturer, rose 3.6% to 57 cents, extending last week’s gains when it posted first-half earnings that show it has begun to pull out of the worst impacts of the global recession.

Sky Network Television (NZX: SKT ) rose 0.4% to $4.82. The pay-TV company on Friday posted a 19% gain in first-half profit as growth in MYSKY HDi subscribers caught up with costs and the company paid less interest. Full-year profit would beat last year’s $88 million, it said.

Among other stocks, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (NZX: FPH ) gained 1.8% to $3.36 and NZX (NZX: NZX ) fell 0.5% to $2.03.

Contact Energy (NZX: CEN ) rose 1.8% to $5.80 after announcing a joint venture with a Rotorua Maori incorporation, Taheke C8, to appraise a geothermal steamfield on the shores of Lake Rotoiti.

Contact is due to announce its first-half profit tomorrow, and has resisted giving guidance owing to volatile wholesale trading conditions and heavy retail competition. The utility may post a 27% jump in first-half profit, recovering from a year-earlier period when national grid constraints and limits on the Cook Strait cable stymied trading.

Businesswire.co.nz

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