Wellington, March 2 NZPA - Stock exchange operator NZX says February trading numbers were up on the same month last year.

The total number of trades in February 2010 was 42,912, a 12 percent increase on the same period last year.

Average daily trades were 2146, a 6 percent increase on the same period last year. Total value traded was $1.85 billion, a 3 percent increase, while the daily average value traded was $92m, down 2 percent.

The NZX 50 Index closed at 3156, a 25 percent increase on the same period last year

Total capital raised in February was $135.7m, which was raised entirely through the secondary equity market. The majority of this was due to Auckland International Airport, which raised around $126m in further issues.

However, February last year was a particularly poor one for the share market and the NZX50, which bottomed out before starting its 37 percent gain between March and January this year.