Kiwi, Australian markets close on the up

The New Zealand sharemarket nudged further ahead on the last full day of trade for 2012, with the NZX 50 rising 15.46 points to 4080.90.

The market will close early on Monday before taking a two-day break.

Among the gainers on the local bourse yesterday were Telecom, up 6c to $2.31.

Northland Port also gained 6c to $2.41 while pay television operator Sky TV was up 6c to $4.90.

Logistics company Mainfreight was up 13c to $11.80 while food manufacturer Goodman Fielder climbed 3c to 0.81.

Outdoor clothing and camping supplies company Kathmandu crawled up a cent to $2.00.

Steel & Tube Holdings fell 4c to $2.40.

Restaurant Brands, the operator of KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks, also slid 4c to $2.64 and telecommunications network company Chorus was down 4c to $2.91.

Clothing retailer Hallenstein Glasson was off 6c at $5.34 and Fletcher Building 5c to $8.40.

In all there were 16.4 million trades. The Australian sharemarket hit 19-month highs, buoyed by gains among resources stocks.

At the close the S&P/ASX 200 was 23.3 points, or 0.5 per cent higher at 4671.3, while the All Ordinaries was up 23.9 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 4685.3.

The market opened up about 0.5 per cent, pushing towards new highs, as traders welcomed rising iron ore prices in offshore trade.

Overnight, investor pessimism about the looming ‘‘fiscal cliff’’ in the United States had turned to optimism and strong iron ore prices buoyed the major miners, IG Markets market strategist Stan Shamu said.

The term refers to automatic tax increases and government spending cuts that will kick in next week if Republicans and Democrats cannot reach a budget agreement by Monday night (NZ time).

Rio Tinto gained A$1.08, or 1.65 per cent, to A$66.53, BHP Billiton was A41 cents, or 1.1 per cent, firmer at A$37.40 and Fortescue Metals had put on A11 cents, or 2.43 per cent, to A$4.64.

Retailers were up in the wake of the Boxing Day sales.

JB Hi-Fi was A9c, or 0.88 per cent, higher at A$10.35, Myer was A2c firmer at A$2.15, David Jones also advanced A2c to A$2.43 and Harvey Norman climbed A4c, or 2.12 per cent, to A$1.925.

Banks also gained ground. The Commonwealth Bank gained A13c to A$62.25, Westpac lifted A17c to A$26.27, ANZ closed A9c higher at A$25.00 and NAB rose by A7c for the second day in a row to A$25.02.

The price of gold in Sydney late yesterday was US$1661.90 per ounce. In Tokyo the Nikkei posted its best yearly gain since 2005, rising 0.7 per cent to 10,395.18 as exporters were buoyed by a weaker yen on expectations of aggressive monet- ary stimulus. The Topix index rose 0.67 per cent to 859.80.

In New York small developments in the tense ‘‘fiscal cliff’’ budget standoff yanked US stocks back and forth, finishing down for the fourth day in a row.

The Dow lost 18.28 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 13,096.31. The S&P 500 fell 1.73 to 1418.10. The Nasdaq lost 4.25 to 2985.91.

In London the FTSE 100 lost 0.3 per cent in 15 minutes after Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said that it looked as if the US was set to head over the fiscal cliff.

The British blue chip index had been benefiting from a recovery in Chinese industrial data.

It closed flat at 5954.30, a gain of 0.12 points. Volumes were just 47.2 per cent of the 90-day average.