The New Zealand sharemarket rose today, showing investors continue to chase the returns available in equities.

The NZX50 index was up 1.3 per cent, or 52.45 points, to 4075.45. Within the index, 33 stocks rose, eight fell and nine were unchanged.

The leading gainer was Diligent Board Member Services. The software company rose 5.8 per cent to $5.30. Chorus was up 4.4 per cent to $2.84. 

International trucking and logistics company Mainfreight rose 4 per cent to $11.75. Outdoor clothing and equipment company Kathmandu Holdings was up 3.6 per cent to $2.00. Contact Energy rose 3.1 per cent to $5.34. 

Freightways lifted 2.8 per cent to $4.36. Infratil rose 2.7 per cent to $2.29. Rural services company PGG Wrightson rose 2.5 per cent to 41c. Nuplex was up 2.3 per cent to $3.12.

Heartland fell 2.9 per cent to 68c. Australian food ingredient company Goodman Fielder was down 2.5 per cent to 79c. 

Xero fell 1.3 per cent to $7.60 after it was announced that Trade Me founder Sam Morgan had cut his stake to under 5 per cent, selling $7.4 million worth of shares. He said in a statement that he was still committed to the cloud accounting firm.

Trade Me was down 1.25 per cent to $3.94. Retailer The Warehouse was down 0.7 per cent to $2.98. TrustPower was down 0.6 per cent to $8.40. Goodman Property Trust fell 0.5 per cent to $1.01. DNZ Property Fund fell 0.3 per cent to $1.60.

- © Fairfax NZ News