INO.com News - New Zealand Stocks Open Marginally Higher, Following Wall Street's Overnight Gains (rtt)

New Zealand Stocks Open Marginally Higher, Following Wall Street's Overnight Gains

(RTTNews) - New Zealand's stock market opened marginally higher on Wednesday, taking cues from overnight gains made at Wall Street, where major U.S. averages closed higher as buying interest re-emerged amid easing concerns about the financial crisis in Dubai.

The benchmark NZX 50 index gained 6.34 points or 0.20% to 3,152.94 shortly after the market opened for the day. Meanwhile, the broader NZX All Capital index added 5.68 points or 0.18% to be at 3,172.30.

The New Zealand share market closed higher on Tuesday, with the NZX 50 index ending the day's trading at 3146.60, up 21.07 points or 0.67%. The NZX All Capital index also added 22.33 points or 0.71% to close at 3166.61.

Overseas, U.S. stocks rose by significant margins on Tuesday, with diminishing concerns over the Dubai financial crisis and a silver lining in the day's mixed economic data fueling the day's rally. The major averages all finished in positive territory, with the Dow finishing at a fresh yearly high.

The strength in the U.S. markets was partly due to comments from Dubai World, which said it has initiated restructuring talks with major banks. Stocks managed to hold onto their gains following the release of a mixed of a batch of economic data not long after the start of trading.

On the economic front, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing that its headline index of activity in the manufacturing sector fell to 53.6 in November from 55.7 in October, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the sector. Economists had been expecting a more modest decrease to a reading of 55.0.

Separately, the National Association of Realtors said that its pending home sales index rose 3.7 percent to 114.1 in October from 110.0 in September, reaching its highest level since March of 2006. The continued increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected pending home sales to edge down by 1.0 percent.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that construction spending was flat in October following a revised a 1.6 percent decline in September, a sharp downward revision from the originally reported increase of 0.8 percent.

All the major U.S. averages saw choppy movement in late session dealing, closing off of their best levels of the day. The Dow gained 126.74 points or 1.2 percent to close at 10,471.58, the Nasdaq rose by 31.21 points or 1.5 percent to 2,175.81 and the S&P 500 advanced by 13.23 points or 1.2 percent to 1,108.86.

Crude oil prices posted gains on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday, finishing just under the US$79 per barrel mark. Light sweet crude oil for January delivery climbed to $78.86 per barrel, up $1.58 on the session. Prices reached as high as $79.04 earlier in the session.

On the currency front, the New Zealand dollar was buying US72.82c by 8 am on Wednesday, compared to US71.80c at 5pm on Tuesday. The level touched by the kiwi at 8 am on Wednesday is its highest level against the greenback in nearly a week.

In the early trading on the New Zealand stock market on Wednesday, market leader Telecom remained unchanged, while second ranked Contact Energy added 0.17% and Fletcher Building, the third best stock, collected 0.63%.

In the retail sector, Hallenstein Glasson and jewelry retailer Michael Hill International remained unchanged, as Pumpkin Patch surged 1.08% and Warehouse advanced 0.48%. Among energy stocks, TrustPower remained unchanged, as Vector collected 1.00% in the early trading.

Among the dual listed issues, Australia and NZ Banking Corp added 0.71%, Telstra surged 1.37% and Westpac Bank collected 1.14%, as AMP, APN News & Media and Lion Nathan remained unchanged in the early trading on Wednesday morning.

Among other notable stocks, Nuplex remained unchanged, as Infratil added 0.61%, Sky Network Television collected 0.43% and Steel & Tube Holdings advanced 1.08%. Meanwhile, Fisher & Paykel Appliances dropped 1.67% and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare climbed 1.56%.

The losers among the shares listed under the NZX 50 index were few on Wednesday morning, and included - Kathmandu Holdings by 0.47%, Property for Industry by 0.87%, Mainfreight by 0.71%, New Zealand Oil & Gas by 1.20% and Sky City Entertainment by 2.29%.

The major gainers included-- AMP NZ Office Trust by 1.33%, Cavalier by 1.27%, Freightways by 0.93%, Kiwi Property Trust by 1.01%, New Zealand Refining Company by 2.35%, PGG Wrightson by 1.79%, Pike River Coal by 1.00%, Rakon by 1.80% and Restaurant Brands NZ by 1.85%.

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