Air New Zealand continued to lead the New Zealand stock exchange for a second day after delivering better than expected earnings, but there doesn't appear to be enough momentum to prevent the bourse from slipping on a weekly basis.

The NZX 50 Index rose 6.50 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 3636.06 as of noon. Just over 11 million shares passed through the bourse in morning trade, worth $44.8m in turnover. As it stands it is heading for a 0.9 per cent decline on a weekly basis.

Across the Tasman, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.23 per cent to 4325.40, and in Tokyo the Nikkei Index fell 0.6 per cent to 8926.71 in early trade.

Air New Zealand, the national carrier, rose 9.4 per cent to a one year high of $1.11, after yesterday reporting a full year net profit of $71 million, a 12 per cent fall on a year ago but ahead of expectations.

The airline also forecast a strong improvement in the year ahead.

Xero rose 5.6 per cent to $4.70, with the stock being driven by bargain hunting. The cloud accounting software maker's stock price has retreated from highs of $5.80 in July, and some investors seem to regard month-long selloff as overdone.

Skellerup, the rubber goods and milking equipment maker, rose 1.9 per cent to $1.64.

Telecom, the country's biggest phone company and most traded stock, rose 0.8 per cent to $2.43. The share price appears to have found a new base after falling from $2.75 in the wake of disappointing full year earnings.

Fletcher Building, the country's biggest construction firm, rose 0.2 per cent to $6.61.

Guinness Peat Group, the investment company looking to wind itself down, fell 2.9 per cent to 50c after earlier in the week posting a $95m drop in interim earnings.

The firm's net loss as of June 30 stood at $70m.

Heartland New Zealand, the financial services company looking to become a retail bank, fell 1.8 per cent to 54c.

NZX, the share market operator, fell 0.9 per cent to $1.07.

- © Fairfax NZ News