New Zealand equities set for weekly gain after Friday morning rise

New Zealand stocks rose 94 points, or 0.7%, to 13,940 in Friday morning trade, after slipping in the previous session and tracking a rise on Wall Street overnight as Treasury yields eased. The move was led by gains in financials, energy, materials, utilities and healthcare. Early advances included Infratil 2.4%, Briscoe Group 1.4%, Contact Energy 1.4%, EBOS Group 0.8%, Auckland International Airport 0.7%, A2 Milk 0.6%, Fisher & Paykel 0.5% and Freightways Group 0.5%. Traders were looking ahead to US jobless rate data later today, China consumer and producer data and August trade figures due next week.

Locally, manufacturing PMI data is due next week after factory activity softened in July. For the week, the index is on course for a 1.2% rise after a decline in the previous month.