KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket retained yesterday's positive tone in early trading today.
The benchmark NZX-50 index was up 7.94 points to 3849.15 at 10.10am, matching yesterday's gain.
Market heavyweight Telecom was up 2c to 454 as was No 3 stock, Contact Energy, to 758.
Air New Zealand rose another 1c to 162, its highest level since March last year.
Sanford which yesterday reported a fall 14.1 per cent in its year profit due to high fuel costs and an unfavourable exchange rate, was untraded after closing on 480.
Goodman Fielder was up 5c to 241, Nuplex rose 8c to 738 and AMP was up 13c to 1084.
Among the smaller stocks, Provenco was up 3c to 109.
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On Wall Street, US stocks rose sharply as shares of Exxon Mobil and other energy-related companies climbed on rising oil prices, and after the US government raised its estimate of third-quarter economic growth.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 89.40 points to end unofficially at 12,225.85 while the Nasdaq Composite Index lifted 19.62 points to close unofficially at 2432.23.
- NZPA / REUTERS
