Westpac leads NZX-50 higher

Westpac led gainers on the NZX 50 Index while Sky City Entertainment slipped back after announcing plans to spend up to $250 million on its Adelaide Casino complex.

The NZX 50 climbed 26.843, or 0.9 percent, to 3034.284 as at midday. Wall Street helped set a positive tone for the domestic bourse, with both the Standard & poor's 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising about 1.7 percent on Friday in New York.

Westpac rose 3.7 percent to $28 and Australia-based pension plan company AMP rose 3.1 percent to $6.39 on the NZX.

Sky City slipped 0.3 percent to $2.90. The Auckland-based hotel and casino operator is looking to expand its Adelaide business as part of the state government's riverfront development plans. The investment would see Adelaide Casino expand towards the river front, with enlarged gaming facilities, bars, restaurants and car parks, the Auckland-based company said in a statement.

Pyne Gould Corp rose 0.5 percent to 41 cents. The finance company said last week that it is making progress in talks with partners Canterbury Building Society and Southern Cross Building Society, with a goal to merge the lenders next year and form the country's only locally-owned and listed bank.

Vector rose 2.4 percent to $2.17. The gas and electricity lines company announced on Friday that underlying net profit rose 4.3 percent to $172.6 million as revenue rose 1.1 percent to $1.19 billion.

New Zealand's merchandise trade deficit was bigger than expected last month as exports fell, stoking concern the key drivers of dairy products and forest products may be coming off the boil.

The trade deficit was $186 million in July, from a revised surplus of $214 million in June, according to Statistics New Zealand. Exports of $3.57 billion lagged behind the forecast $3.69 billion in a Reuters survey, while exports of $3.57 billion exceeded the forecast $3.7 billion.

The monthly value of exports was still a record for a July month, the government statistician said.

The New Zealand dollar rose after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said he'd print more money if the US economy deteriorated and as traders awaited an emergency meeting of the Bank of Japan, which is under pressure to help ease back the strong yen.

The kiwi traded at US71.15c from US70.42c on Friday in New York and gained to 60.99 yen from 59.64 yen last week.

Redgroup Retail, the owner of the Whitcoulls and Borders book stores, gained a waiver for breaches to its banking covenants and said chairman Rod Walker will step down, and its owner, Pacific Equity Partners, is looking at a range of options to bolster its balance sheet.

The yield on the company's listed bonds dropped 15 basis points to 60 percent in trading today.

State-owned Genesis Energy beat forecasts with an annual net profit of $69 million, due to favourable wholesale market hedge settlements and cost savings initiatives. That turns around a loss of $136 million last year, after the company wrote down the value of its ageing Huntly coal and gas-fired plant, because it plans to run the station less in future.

South Canterbury Finance chief executive Sandy Maier is trying to quash speculation over the financier's future as tomorrow's deadline for its trust deed waiver approaches, amid reports of several parties interested in taking a stake in the beleaguered lender. Trading in the preference shares and bonds listed on the NZX was halted last Friday when the company flagged it was nearing a conclusion to its negotiations over its proposed recapitalisation.

Failed lender Strategic Finance has a book value deficit of $195.5 million, according to the first report from the liquidators. The deficit is based on the stricken firm's estimated assets and liabilities as at May 31 and confirms unsecured creditors are likely to get nothing.

- BusinessDesk