NZ sharemarket gains early

File photo

The New Zealand sharemarket gained in early trading, after latest corporate results had pushed stocks in the United States to their best levels since June 2008.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 6.29 points to 3492.78, having yesterday eased 5.9 points.

Among leading stocks, Fletcher Building gained 3c to 922, Telecom was up 1.5c to 214.5, and Contact Energy was unchanged on 586.

Trustpower lifted 11c to 760, OceanaGold was up 7c to 380, Vector was up 2c to 246, and Port of Tauranga added 3c to 870, while NZX dropped 2c to 223 and Steel & Tube was down 2c to 261.

In the US, the fresh batch of corporate results renewed optimism that profit growth will remain resilient enough to keep equities on the rise.

Ford Motor Co, 3M Co and United Parcel Services Inc were among the bellwether names to impress, continuing a string of better-than-expected results.

3M and UPS also raised their full-year profit outlooks.

"It is really from the multinationals that have been reporting good numbers and speaking of good things to come - these are big, big blue chips that are starting to see a bright light," said Joseph Benanti, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities in New York.

The three major US stock indexes hit fresh highs for the year, with the Nasdaq Composite Index climbing to its highest level since October 2007.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.9 percent to 12,595.37, a fresh three-year high, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.9 per cent to 1347.24, its best since June 2008, and the Nasdaq climbed 0.8 per cent to end at 2847.54.

- NZPA