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Shares in retailer The Warehouse tumbled when the stock exchange opened today, following a Court of Appeal decision preventing takeover bids by Woolworths and Foodstuffs.
A few minutes after the NZX's 10am opening, The Warehouse shares were down 61c, or 16 per cent to $3.21.
But the company was in the minority, as the overall market gained, following a good session in the United States, even as oil prices rose.
Around 10.15am the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 16.09 points to 3303.85, on top of a 52 point rise yesterday.
Among the early risers was New Zealand Oil & Gas, up 7c to 160, after reporting full year revenue of $234.6 million, up from $4.2 million the year before due to earnings from the Tui area oilfields off the Taranaki coast.
Top stock Telecom was up 6c early to 374, on top of a 9c gain yesterday as the stock continues to pull away from a low of 325 a fortnight ago.
Contact Energy was up 8c early to 843, having lifted 15c yesterday. Fletcher Building, which also gained 15c yesterday, picked up a further 5c early to 645.
Among other stocks to gain early were Methven, lifting 10c to 170, Sky TV up 5c to 455, Sanford 3c to 538, Pike River Coal 3c to 200, and Auckland Airport 3c to 197.
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In the US, the Dow industrials and S&P 500 rose as a surprising increase in private-sector employment and central bank efforts to boost liquidity in stormy financial markets offset a surge in oil prices.
Bank stocks rose after the Federal Reserve and other central banks said they would boost measures to stabilise financial companies struggling with credit losses.
The price of oil rose nearly 4 per cent, boosting shares of energy companies.
The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 1.63 per cent to 11,583.69. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 1.67 per cent, to 1284.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.44 per cent to 2329.72.
- NZPA
