NZ sharemarket lifts early

Photo / Kenny Rodger

The sharemarket gained in early trading as leading share Telecom reversed most of its decline yesterday.

Telecom shares were up 3c to 196 in the first few minutes after the market opened, having yesterday depressed the market when it shed 4c.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 8.5 points to 3016.93, after yesterday losing 12.8 points.

Contact Energy was up 3c to 563, Methven up 3c to 153, Fletcher Building up 2c to 776, and Rakon up 2c to 107, continuing the rise which started on Thursday and included a 4c gain yesterday.

The Warehouse fell 5c to 355 and Trustpower dropped 2c to 728.

In the United States, solid earnings from DuPont and Cummins Inc cheered investors, but that was offset by gloomy comments from steelmakers, including US Steel Corp and AK Steel Holding Corp.

Economic data was mixed. Home prices rose in May, but labour-market worries took July consumer confidence to its lowest since February.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.1 percent to 10,537.69, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.1 percent to 1113.84, and the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.4 percent to close at 2288.25.

- NZPA