NZ market inches back up

By AARON LIM - BusinessDay.co.nz | Tuesday, 07 October 2008

October 07 - Close: The New Zealand stock market reversed some of its earlier losses by the end of the day, with the NZX 50 index finishing back above the 3000 mark.

The benchmark NZX 50 index finished the day down 44.186 points, or 1.47 per cent at 3004.191, improving from the morning session when it fell to 2967.

Top stock Telecom reversed earlier losses of the morning, finishing the day at $2.78, down 1c.

Fletcher Building ended the trading day down 8c at $6.42.

Contact Energy made back some of its earlier losses, finishing the day up 5c at $7.45.

ANZ also ended the day in positive territory, closing at $21.00, up 5c.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 7c to $3.02

In Australia, stocks rallied after the central bank cut its benchmark cash rate 100 basis points to 6 percent.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) easing was the second in as many months and the first move of that magnitude since December, 1994.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 96.3 points or 2.2 per cent at 4,636.7 shortly after the rate cut, after reaching a three year low in morning trading.

In Asia, the bench Nikkei average in Japan was down 2.8 percent to 10,211 after earlier slipping to its lowest since December 2003.

The MSCI All-Country world stocks index closed at a four-year low overnight, having dropped by a third so far this year.

Falls in global markets today were driven by Wall Street's dire performance overnight.

 On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at a 4-year low after dipping below 10,000 points for the first time since October 2004.

 The $700 billion US rescue fund, ad hoc measures by European governments and massive injections of funds by central banks around the world have not been able to stop confidence in the financial system from evaporating or growing fears the global economy is on path to recession.

 - with Reuters