NZ shares follow Wall St higher in light trading; Meridian, F&P, A2 rise
The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 66.9 points, or 0.7 percent, to 10,071.74. Within the index, 29 stocks gained, 15 fell, and six were unchanged. Turnover was $110.6 million.
The New Zealand market followed international cues as Wall Street set the tone. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed at records as better-than-expected earnings results and strong housing data allayed concerns that the US economy may be slowing. Stocks across Asia were mixed, with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index up 0.9 percent in afternoon trading, Singapore's Straits Times index rising 0.2 percent while South Korea's Kospi Composite dropped 1.3 percent.
David Price, a broker at Forsyth Barr, said New Zealand's market was following those international leads, but volumes were very light in the holiday-shortened week with little news to drive direction.
"There hasn't been any negative news for a while, so the market is just going in the same direction where it left off previously," he said. "We're just a little boat bobbing in the sea at the moment."
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