Sharemarket starts week on a buoyant note

The S&P/NZX 50 Index started the week slowly but had a strong rally on light trading in the afternoon to breach the 12,000 points level for the first time in nine weeks.

The index closed at 12,026.39, up 98.89 points or 0.83%, after reaching an intraday low of 11,873.81. The index was at 12,144.66 points on Feb 17.

There were 75 gainers and 55 decliners over the whole market, with 19.98 million shares worth $72.25m changing hands.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said local economic activity has been holding up better than people thought and investors have some confidence to move back into stocks.