New Zealand stock have firmed as investors backed companies whose earnings didn't disappoint.
The NZX 50 Index rose 14.872 points or 0.3 per cent to 4888.40 on Friday.
Within the index 21 shares rose, 19 fell and 10 were unchanged. Turnover was $124.8 million.
SkyCity extended Thursday's gain, rising 1.9 per cent to $3.73. The casino operator delivered results on Wednesday that weren't as bad as the market had expected.
"The stock had been sold down reasonably sharply over the past week," said Matthew Goodson, who helps manage about $650 million at Salt Funds Management.
"The market priced in a low expectation, and bad numbers, but that Adelaide project looks very attractive."
Vital Healthcare rose 0.8 per cent to $1.285.
New Zealand's largest listed medical and healthcare property investor posted a 48 per cent lift in its half-year earnings.
Three quarters of the trust's assets are in Australia. The New Zealand dollar has appreciated about 13 per cent against the Australian currency over the past year, crimping returns from companies with investments in Australia.
"It was a result dominated by FX and tax," Mr Goodson said.
"A very confusing result with all sorts of currency hedging and also tax hedging. So we spent the day trying to pick through it but it seems relatively in line with its guidance.
"The high kiwi is more likely to affect June half earnings, as it continues to come through. It is clearly going to be an issue for companies with large Australian arms."
Brisbane-based jeweller Michael Hill International fell 1.4 per cent to $1.38 after reporting first-half fell 26 per cent to $16.2 million, in line with its forecast.
Telecom gained 1.7 per cent to a nine-month high of $2.46.
"Telecom is up on probably a couple of things, one, Telstra had a good bounce following its results, and two, on the hopes of hearing more about future strategy from the company during its earnings," Mr Goodson said.
