KEY POINTS:
Shares in The Warehouse regained some lost ground early today, after being sold off yesterday with a 73c fall.
That came after the Commerce Commission said it was seeking leave to appeal a court ruling overturning its ban on Foodstuffs or Woolworths launching takeovers.
Bargain hunting investors seeing the stock as having been oversold lifted the price 13c in early trade today to 560.
The rise was on the back of an improving sharemarket, up 18.7 points to 3944.82 by 10.20am. Rises outnumbered falls 18 to 11 from 64 stocks traded, with a turnover of 7.6 million shares valued at $23 million.
It followed on from a better performance in the US, where stocks rose as investors bought beaten-down shares of technology bellwethers such as IBM and Microsoft Corp on hopes that the tech sector would weather the impact of a credit crisis.
Also rising early in this country was Sky City, up 3c to 455, having lost 9c yesterday after investors were underwhelmed by the appointment of experienced casino executive Nigel Morrison as chief executive.
Partial takeover target Auckland Airport was looking more chipper, adding 4c to 279, after a 1c gain yesterday. On Monday its board urged investors to reject the Canadian Pension Plan's partial bid even though it was assessed above valuations.
Among other shares up early were Air New Zealand, which gained 2c to 184, Fletcher Building up 3c to 1110, Property for Industry 2c to 132, Ryman Healthcare 3c to 202, and Telecom 2c to 438.
Among few stocks to lose early was NZ Farming Systems Uruguay which listed yesterday at an issue price of 150 but closed down 8c. Early today it lost another 2c to 140.
In the US the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.41 per cent to 13,221.33. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.55 per cent, at 1453.92. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.85 per cent, at 2596.32.
- NZPA
