Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Market up but Telecom share price hits new low

Updated at 7:32 pm on 19 March 2010

The benchmark NZX50 index closed out the week nine points, or 0.3%, up at 3230 on turnover of $76 million.

Of the major stocks, Fletcher Building gained 3c to $8.35 and Contact Energy 9cs to $6.12, but Telecom fell 4c to $2.11 - a new low -

Sky City Entertainment Group was up 3c to $3.42 and Sky Network Television up 10c to $5.12.

Air New Zealand dropped 2c to $1.30 after annoucing changes on its transtasman route with the aim of boosting the number of lesiure travellers.

The Warehouse added 4c to finish the week at $3.90, while Kathmandu rose 8c to $2.46 after its underlying half-year profit stood at $4.4 million on stronger sales.

In currency markets, the NZ dollar was at 71.46 US cents, 77.55 Australian, 46.86 pence, 64.66 yen and .5247 euro; the TWI stood at 65.93.

Australian market marginally higher

Across the Tasman, the Australianshare market closed marginally higher on thin trading volumes as investors switched out of Rio Tinto into the energy sector.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 9.1 points, or 0.19%, at 4872.2, while the broader All Ordinaries index added 12.4 points, or 0.25%, to close at 4890.1.

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