Sharemarket back above the 10,000 mark

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 0.6 percent to 10,047.82. Within the index, 26 stocks rose, 15 fell, and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $103.2 million with just six stocks trading on volumes of more than a million shares.

Synlait rose 4 percent to $9.10 on a volume of 102,000 shares, below its 90-day average of 123,000. The milk processor said it's appealing to the Supreme Court in an effort to get covenants removed from land where it's all but completed a processing factory in Pokeno. The company is still pursuing a commercial solution to the dispute.

Grant Williamson, a director at Hamilton Hindin Greene, said Synlait has also been weighed down by A2 Milk's performance in recent days as investors pondered the impact of China's goal of lifting its internal production of infant formula. A2 increased 0.8 percent to $14.40 on 433,000 shares, a smaller volume than usual.

"Synlait is back up above where it started the week, but is still well off its highs," he said.