WSJ: NZ Shares End Higher But Waiting For U.S. Data For Direction
WELLINGTON (Dow Jones)--New Zealand shares ended higher Monday, bolstered by positive offshore leads but trading was light ahead of raft of data out of the U.S. this week.
"It is just drifting higher along with most other markets around the region," said Goldman Sachs JBWere broker Humphrey Sherratt. He noted, however, the volume remained extremely light in most stocks.
The NZX-50 ended up 0.5% or 15.82 points at 3,173.97.
Outdoor apparel and camping goods retailer Kathmandu ended flat at NZ$2.23, after listing Friday, New Zealand's first new listing in nearly two years.
Discount retailer The Warehouse gained 1.7% to NZ$4.18, paring some of its losses after announcing Friday its first-quarter group sales were down slightly from a year earlier as consumption remains subdued.
National carrier Air New Zealand added 1.6% to NZ$1.30. On the weekend, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus launched its fuel-saving "Sharklet" large wingtip devices for its A320 family. The first model of the mid-range airliner to be fitted with the wing tips will be delivered around 2012 and Air New Zealand is the launch customer.
Airports and infrastructure investor Infratil shed 0.7% to NZ$1.54, ahead of reporting its first-half result Tuesday.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare shrugged off the strong New Zealand dollar and added 0.3% to NZ$3.11. Investors are keen to see any forward looking commentary when the company announces its first-half result on Thursday.
Bellwethers Telecom and Fletcher Building both ended unchanged on NZ$2.56 and NZ$8.00 respectively, with fairly hefty volume in the teleco.
Casino operator Sky City gained 3.0% to NZ$3.45 as the stock played catch up with the market's rally.
Sky Television ended flat at NZ$4.95. Sherratt said the market is interested to see what Vodafone's New Zealand unit has to say on Tuesday. The company plans to make a media announcement around its partnership with Sky TV.
Brokers said the market would continue to be closely focused on offshore markets for direction, in particular given a raft of U.S. data this week. The U.S. is due to report retail sales, the producer price index and the consumer price index, among other data this week.
-By Rebecca Howard, Dow Jones Newswires; 64-4-471-5990; rebecca.howard@dowjones.com
