Nuplex shares dip early

Shares in industrial resins and specialties group Nuplex Industries were down 3.2 per cent in early trading, following yesterday's announcement the Securities Commission is filing civil proceedings against the company and six current and former directors.

The commission alleges Nuplex breached its continuous disclosure obligations under the NZX Listing Rules and the Securities Markets Act by failing to disclose to the market a breach of a banking covenant.

Nuplex denied the allegations and said the company and its directors would defend themselves vigorously.

Shares in Nuplex fell as much as 12c in early trading, but the decline eased to 10c within a few minutes of the market opening, with the stock price down to 2.9 per cent to $3.37.

More broadly the New Zealand sharemarket rose early, with the benchmark NZX-50 index up 7.46 points to 3317.39 around 10.15am, after losing 4.2 points yesterday. The index continues to hover close to an 18-month high of 3327 points reached last Wednesday.

Shares rising early included battered market leader Telecom, which gained 3c to $2.23, having dropped as low as $2.11 last month.

Fishing company Sanford gained 5c to $4.50, Air New Zealand lifted 3c to $1.44, Infratil was up 2c to $1.79, and Fletcher Building was up 2c to $8.30.

Companies falling included Steel & Tube, down 4c to $2.76, Port of Tauranga down 3c to $7.00, Freightways down 3c to $3.17, and Pike River Coal down 2c to $1.10.

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In the United States, stocks eked out a gain as investors looked ahead to earnings from big banks and tech bellwethers, even as disappointing revenue from Alcoa Inc acted as a headwind.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 0.1 per cent at 11,019.42, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended up 0.1 per cent at 1197.29, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.3 per cent at 2465.99.

- NZPA