Market Close: Market rally after rate cut

Thursday 24th July 2008

The market extended its gains for a second consecutive day and surged upwards with the NZSE50 up 2.67% (85.58 points) to end the day at 3,287.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand lowered the official cash rate (OCR) by 25 basis points to 8.0% from 8.25%, marking the first change in the OCR since July 2007.

Banks continued their positive run, with ANZ gaining 3.1% and WBC surging 2.5%.

Top stock Telecom fell 0.9%, while Contact Energy was up 4.1% and Fletcher Building soared 5.5%.

Retailers closed mixed. Pumpkin Patch gained 1.4% and The Warehouse Group advanced 1.8%, but Hallenstein Glasson dipped 2.7%.

It was a great day for Fisher & Paykel Healthcare who increased 6.5%, Rakon jumped 6.2%, Air New Zealand rose 4.1% and Fisher & Paykel Appliances advanced 5.5%.

Among other shares, Nuplex closed unchanged, but SkyCity surged 4.8% and Steel & Tube Holdings increased 3.9%.

With oil extending its decline, New Zealand Oil & Gas fell 2.0%. Other decreases included Pike River Coal 1.4% and Sellerup Holdings 1.2%.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 38.8 points or 0.76% to 5144.1, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 26.8 points or 0.52%, to 5188.4.

The Dow closed up 29.88 points or 0.26% at 11,632.38, the Nasdaq closed up 21.92 points or .95% at 2,325.88 and the S&P 500 closed up 5.18 points or 0.4% at 1,282.18.

NZ Top 50	3,287.226	+85.576 (+2.67%)
ASX 200	5,144.100	+38.800 (+0.76%)
Dow	11,632.38	+29.88 (+0.26%)
Nasdaq	2,325.88	+21.92 (+0.95%)
FTSE 100	5,449.90	+85.80 (+1.60%)

NZX TOP 50
As at: 24/07/2008 5:34pm
CODE	LAST	+/-
AIA	1.88	+0.07
AIR	1.28	+0.05
AMP	9.10	+0.49
ANZ	24.95	+0.75
APN	4.17	0.00
APT	1.12	+0.03
CAV	2.28	+0.13
CEN	8.47	+0.33
EBO	4.60	+0.20
FBU	6.91	+0.36
FPA	2.11	+0.11
FPH	2.62	+0.16
FRE	3.07	+0.10
GFF	1.72	+0.06
GMT	1.20	+0.05
GPG	1.38	+0.02
HLG	2.87	-0.08
IFT	2.15	+0.15
IMP	1.14	+0.03
ING	0.83	+0.01
KIP	1.17	+0.02
LNN	11.31	+0.01
MFT	6.65	+0.25
MHI	0.78	0.00
MVN	1.60	+0.05
NPX	5.35	0.00
NZO	1.51	-0.03
NZR	6.70	0.00
NZS	1.75	0.00
NZX	7.35	+0.35
PFI	1.18	+0.03
PGW	2.53	+0.03
POT	6.60	+0.10
PPL	1.44	+0.02
PRC	2.05	-0.03
RAK	2.75	+0.16
RYM	1.64	+0.05
SAN	5.38	+0.18
SKC	3.25	+0.15
SKL	0.84	-0.01
SKT	4.54	+0.09
STU	2.70	+0.10
TEL	3.47	-0.03
THL	1.34	0.00
TLS	5.69	+0.01
TPW	7.60	+0.06
TWR	2.12	+0.04
VCT	2.11	+0.04
WBC	28.70	+0.70
WHS	3.97	+0.07

Comments from our readers

No comments yet