Market close: Shares close slightly higher

Monday 11th August 2008

The sharemarket was up slightly today with the NZSE50 up 0.37% to end the day at 3,370.

Top stock Telecom fell 1.2%, adding to Friday's drop. Contact Energy dipped 0.1% and Fletcher Building lost 1.8%.

Another mixed day in the retail space, Michael Hill jumped 3.7%, and Hallenstein Glasson increased 2.9% while The Warehouse Group closed unchanged. Pumpkin Patch dipped 1.8%.

Other major gainers included Sanford 4.2%, Steel & Tube Holdings 3.3%, Auckland International Airport 3.1%, AMP 3.3%, Fisher & Paykel Appliances 2.4%, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare 2.8%, and Freightways 2.2%.

Banks had a stella day in Australia and here Westpac was up 2.3% and ANZ was up .05%.

Among major losers, Media Technology Group dropped 43%, Skellerup plunged 4.1%, OceanaGold Corporation dropped 10% and New Zealand Oil and Gas tumbled 1.9% following a fall in crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index ended 39.9 points, or 0.8%, higher for the day, at 5026.1. It is the first time in nearly three weeks that the index has closed above 5,000 points.

The Dow soared 302.89 points, or 2.65% to close at 11,734.32. The broader market Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 30.25 points, or 2.39% to 1,296.32. The technology-heavy NASDAQ leapt 58.37 points, or 2.48% to 2,414.10.

NZ Top 50	3,370.186	+12.367 (+0.37%)
ASX 200	5,026.100	+39.900 (+0.80%)
Dow	11,734.32	+302.89 (+2.65%)
Nasdaq	2,414.10	+58.37 (+2.48%)
FTSE 100	5,489.20	+11.70 (+0.21%)

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