(RTTNews) - The New Zealand share market opened modestly higher on Thursday, despite a mixed lead from Wall Street, where major U.S. averages closed on both sides of the unchanged line overnight after Federal Reserve’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged at historic lows sparked economic concerns.

The benchmark NZX 50 index added 9.68 points or 0.31% to 3,176.39 shortly after the market opened for the day. Meanwhile, the broader NZX All Capital index collected 12.17 points or 0.38% to be at 3,198.41.

New Zealand’s market closed with little change on Wednesday. The benchmark NZX-50 index gained 7.7 points or 0.2 percent to finish at 3,166.7. Trading volume was listed by the NZ Stock Exchange at 46.8 million shares valued at NZ$95.7 million. Declining stocks outnumbered advancers 42 to 32 with 36 unchanged.

Overseas, U.S. stocks closed mixed for a second straight session on Wednesday, giving up earlier gains following news that the Federal Reserve left interest rates near record lows amid continued economic concerns. The major averages finished on opposite sides of the unchanged mark, extending their lackluster performance.

The choppy trading came after the Fed left its target for the federal funds rate unchanged in a range from zero to a quarter percent and reiterated its assessment that “exceptionally” low rates will continue for an “extended period.”

Heading into the announcement, the Fed was expected to leave rates unchanged, though there had been some expectation that the central bank would start to pave the way for an eventual rate hike down the road.

The equity markets saw considerable upside this morning as traders bought into the market despite a pair of rather lukewarm economic reports.

The Institute for Supply Management said that activity in the service sector grew for the second consecutive month in October, but the pace of growth unexpectedly slowed compared to the previous month.

The index of activity in the service sector edged down to 50.6 in October from 50.9 in September, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the sector. The decrease by the index came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the index to rise to 51.5.

Separately, Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) reported that private sector employment continued to decrease in the month of October, although the pace of job losses slowed for the seventh consecutive month.

Non-farm private employment fell by 203,000 jobs in October following a revised decrease of 227,000 jobs in September. Economists had expected a loss of 198,000 jobs compared to the decrease of 254,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

All the major U.S. averages saw notable downside in late day trading, pushing the tech-heavy Nasdaq into negative territory. The Nasdaq closed down by 1.80 points or 0.1 percent at 2,055.52, while the Dow rose by 30.23 points or 0.3 percent to 9,802.14 and the S&P 500 gained 1.09 points or 0.1 percent to close at 1,046.50.

Crude oil prices rallied above $80 per barrel after the Energy Information Administration reported a drop in weekly inventories. Light sweet crude for December finished at $80.40 per barrel, up 80 cents for the session. Earlier, oil hit an intraday high of at $81.06.

On the currency front, the New Zealand dollar was buying US72.63c by 8am on Thursday, compared to US71.92c at 5pm on Wednesday.

In the economic news for Thursday, Statistics New Zealand released its report on the country’s unemployment rate for the third quarter. The report showed that unemployment has jumped from 6 per cent in the June quarter to 6.5 per cent in the September quarter, taking the number of unemployed people to the highest level since the March 1994 quarter.

In the early trading on the New Zealand stock market on Thursday, market leader Telecom added 0.79%, while second ranked Contact Energy dropped 0.98% and Fletcher Building, the third best stock, advanced 0.75%.

In the retail sector, Hallenstein Glasson, jewelry retailer Michael Hill International and Pumpkin Patch remained unchanged, as Warehouse collected 0.22%. Among energy stocks, TrustPower declined 0.79%, as Vector lost 0.52% in the early trading.

Among the dual listed issues, Australia and NZ Banking Corp added 1.02% and Telstra declined 0.25%, as AMP, APN News & Media, Lion Nathan and Westpac Bank remained unchanged in the early trading on Thursday morning.

Among other notable stocks, Infratil added 1.27%, Mainfreight collected 0.37%, Nuplex advanced 0.82% and Sky Network Television gave up 0.21%, as Methven, Sky City and Steel & Tube Holdings remained unchanged. Meanwhile, Fisher & Paykel Appliances surged 3.23% and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare remained unchanged.

While ING Property Trust dropped 1.25% and Ryman Healthcare gave up 0.51%, Auckland International Airport advanced 1.02%, Freightways collected 0.98%, Property for Industry added 0.83%, PGG Wrightson jumped 3.33% and Rakon surged 2.63%.

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Posted in Categories: Australia, New Zealand, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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