NZ sharemarket enjoys early lift

File photo / Paul Estcourt

The New Zealand sharemarket rose in early trade as market leaders regained some of the ground lost yesterday.

In the case of Fletcher Building the rebound was only small, following the 29c fall yesterday when building consent data in both this country and Australia was negative. Shortly after the market opened today Fletcher Building was up 4c to $8.10.

Telecom gained 3c to $2.05 early today after falling 6c yesterday, while Contact Energy lifted 3c to $5.69 having fallen 5c yesterday.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 12.83 points to 3190.92, after yesterday's 48.8-point fall.

NZ Refining Co was up 9c early to $3.77, Steel & Tube gained 4c to $2.49, Delegats Group added 5c to $1.80, and kiwifruit company Satara Cooperative was up 15c to $1.00 after announcing plans, after the market closed yesterday, to merge with EastPack.

A trading halt was put on the securities of Tower before the market opened today, pending a material announcement by the company.

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In the United States, the session was volatile, split between investors positioning for the end of the quarter and those buying on encouraging data. After up and down moves of nearly 1 per cent, equities ended slightly lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.4 per cent to 10,788.05, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 0.3 per cent to 1141.20, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3 per cent to 2368.62.

Defying September's track record as the worst month for stocks, the S&P and Nasdaq logged the biggest monthly gains since April 2009, as data showed the US economy was not in such bad shape. The S&P lifted 8.8 per cent for the month.

- NZPA