Wellington  - The New Zealand stock market, which kept falling this week after plunging to a five-year low in the last few days of February trading, bounced back by 2.1 per cent on Wednesday.

But the benchmark NZX50 index remained below 2,500, the psychological barrier it slid past last week for the first time since January 2004.

The index closed at 2,469 after gaining 51 points, but the stock exchange reported mixed fortunes overall with 55 stocks rising while 38 fell. (dpa)