Market close: Shares close higher

Monday 25th August 2008

The sharemarket rose slightly today with the NZSE50 up 0.46% to end the day at 3,326.

Top stock Telecom surged 4.0% and Fletcher Building rose 1.5%. Contact Energy fell 1.3% ahead of its financial results on Tuesday.

Retailers closed mixed. Pumpkin Patch was up 3.2% and Hallenstein Glasson increased 0.7%, while The Warehouse Group dipped 2.9% and Michael Hill lost 1.0%.

Among other major gainers, Plus SMS Holdings rose 7.14%, AMP rose 1.9%, ING Medical Properties Trust advanced 1.8%, and Lion Nathan was up 4.7%.

Taking their lead from offshore, banks had a strong day with Westpac Banking Group gaining 4.5% and ANZ up 1.40%.

Top losers included, Dominion Finance down 37.50%, Charlie's Group 3.85%, Steel & Tube Holdings 3.0%, Sky Network Television 2.0%, Guinness Peat Group 3.4% and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare 2.3%.

Our biggest casino operator, Sky City Entertainment Group, was down .29% today, after posting a 49% drop in full-year profit after writing down the value of its cinemas.

Taylors Group, the laundry company controlled by Australia's Spotless Group, was up 4.62%, after announcing a 35% decline in profit on costs to finance more efficient equipment. Sales rose 3.2% to NZ$68.8 million

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed up 83.5 points, or 1.7%, at 5014.9, pushed along by strong mining and financial sectors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 197.85 points, or 1.73% to a close of 11,628.06, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 34.33 points, or 1.44% to 2,414.71.
The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 14.48 points, or 1.13% to finish at 1,292.20.

NZ Top 50	3,326.917	+15.307 (+0.46%)
ASX 200	5,014.900	+83.500 (+1.69%)
Dow	11,628.06	+197.85 (+1.73%)
Nasdaq	2,414.71	+34.33 (+1.44%)
FTSE 100	5,505.60	+135.40 (+2.52%)

AIA	2.01	0.00
AIR	1.22	-0.01
AMP	7.90	+0.15
ANZ	19.52	+0.27
APN	3.86	0.00
APT	1.05	0.00
CAV	2.70	+0.03
CEN	8.31	-0.11
EBO	4.95	-0.05
FBU	7.31	+0.11
FPA	1.80	-0.02
FPH	2.98	-0.07
FRE	3.35	+0.05
GFF	1.76	-0.07
GMT	1.15	+0.02
GPG	1.44	-0.05
HLG	2.85	+0.02
IFT	2.16	+0.02
IMP	1.12	+0.02
ING	0.76	-0.01
KIP	1.11	+0.01
LNN	11.05	+0.50
MFT	7.20	+0.10
MHI	0.94	-0.01
MVN	1.69	+0.03
NPX	6.25	0.00
NZO	1.50	-0.01
NZR	7.10	0.00
NZS	1.60	+0.02
NZX	7.58	-0.02
PFI	1.16	-0.01
PGW	2.78	-0.04
POT	7.20	+0.10
PPL	1.61	+0.05
PRC	1.80	0.00
RAK	3.03	-0.01
RYM	1.78	+0.03
SAN	5.91	+0.06
SKC	3.42	-0.01
SKL	0.97	0.00
SKT	4.80	-0.10
STU	3.25	-0.10
TEL	3.36	+0.13
THL	1.45	+0.05
TLS	5.40	+0.12
TPW	7.85	+0.05
TWR	2.27	-0.04
VCT	2.32	+0.04
WBC	27.95	+1.19
WHS	3.35	-0.10

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