Earnings season brings long-expected good news

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 63.25 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,673.97. Within the index, 22 stocks rose, 22 fell and six were unchanged. Turnover was $194.6 million.

Grant Williamson, a director at Hamilton Hindin Greene, said earnings season was off to a strong start but it had received a muted response from investors who were anticipating positive reports.

“It’s all about investor expectations and quite often we see strong buying ahead of a result but not a lot of reason to continue to buy once the good news has come out,” he said.

Fletcher Building rose 0.8 percent to $6.50 after it reported first-half net profit up 48 percent.