18 Oct 2011

Sharemarket makes strong start to new week

6:18 am on 18 October 2011

The New Zealand sharemarket has started the week positively, with the NZX 50 index closing up 17 points, or 0.5%, to 3320.

Among the major movements, Fletcher Building was up 8 cents to $6.78, Telecom up 0.5 cents to $2.555 and Contact Energy rose 9 cents at $5.72.

Sky City Entertainment gained 2 cents to $3.42, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 1 cent to $2.46, and Auckland International Airport lost 1.5 cents to close Monday's trading at $2.31.

The Warehouse lost 2 cents to $3.23, Methven gained 3 cents to $1.20, and Goodman Fielder was up 4 cents to 70 cents.

Ebos Group rose 4 cents to $6.55, AMP was up 13 cents to $5.45, and Comvita gained 10 cents to $2.65.

In currency markets, at 5.20pm the New Zealand dollar was at 80.41 US, 77.87 Australian, 50.79 pence, 62.03 Yen, and 0.5790 euro.

The TWI stands at 70.17.