NZ sharemarket edges up early

Photo / Paul Estcourt

The New Zealand sharemarket managed only minor gains in early trading, despite widespread rises in stocks around the world.

Around 10.20am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 0.2 points to 3021.38, having yesterday gained 26.3 per cent.

Rakon continued the rise which started on Thursday, lifting 6c early today to 107 - a level last seen at the end of April.

Hellaby Holdings gained 3c to $1.80, The Warehouse was up 2c to $3.62, and Freightways rose 2c to $2.67.

Port of Tauranga fell 5c to $6.85, Xero dropped 5c to $1.47, Contact Energy fell 3c to $5.66, and Trustpower was down 2c to $7.23.

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Global stocks rose, with US data showing a pick-up in new home sales, reviving hopes for improvement in a tepid economic recovery.

European shares closed at a five-week high, with the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closing 0.4 per cent higher. World stocks as measured by MSCI rose 1.15 per cent and the Thomson Reuters global stock index gained 1 per cent.

In the United States, stocks got a lift from FedEx Corp after the bellwether raised its earnings outlook, sending its stock up more than 4 per cent. Stronger outlooks for transportation firms like FedEx are seen as a sign of growing economic demand.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1 per cent to 10,525.43, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1.1 per cent to 1115.01, and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.2 per cent to close at 2296.43.

The gains pushed the Dow up 0.9 per cent for the year to date and lifted the Nasdaq 1.2 per cent for the year so far, while the S&P 500 closed just shy of break-even, as the indexes have clawed back from declines from late April's closing highs.

- NZPA