NZ shares gain; yield stocks Contact, Meridian still in favour

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 42.80 points, or 0.4 percent, to 10,800.00. Within the index, 29 stocks rose, 10 fell, and 11 were unchanged. Turnover was $87.8 million with just five stocks trading on volumes of more than a million shares.

Stocks across Asia were mixed as investors assess the impact of the new trade tariffs imposed between the US and China. The trade war between the world's two biggest economies has stoked volatility in markets and encouraged central bankers to keep interest rates low. That, in turn, has made stock markets such as New Zealand more attractive due to the dominance of utilities and property companies that pay reliable dividends.

Among those yield plays, Contact rose 2.9 percent to $8.62 on a volume of 1.1 million shares and Meridian was up 1.8 percent at $5.07. Property For Industry increased 1.5 percent to $2.39 and Vector advanced 1.4 percent to $3.61.

"We've got negative interest rates in Europe, and here term deposits are near enough - once you pay tax and inflation you're not going far," said Grant Davies, an investment advisor at Hamilton Hindin Greene.