NZ sharemarket rises in early trading

The New Zealand sharemarket opened positively this morning, echoing gains made in overseas markets yesterday.

The benchmark NZX-50 index, which closed yesterday at 3156.078, gained 13.826 points, or 0.438 per cent, to 3169.904 in the opening 15 minutes this morning.

Telecom was heavily traded, up 2c to $2.12, followed by Fletcher Building, up 8c to $7.92.

Guinness Peat Group earned 1c to 83, Nuplex was up 1c to $3.32 and NZ Farming Systems Uruguay rose 1c to 39.

The Warehouse rose 3c to $3.68, Property for Industry gained 1c to $1.15 and Sky City lifted 2c to $3.02.

Tower rose 2c to $1.94, Air New Zealand elevated 1c to $1.24, Infratil was up 1c to $1.68, Ryman gained 1c to $2.11 and Sanford lifted 2c to $4.30.

Local stocks losing ground this morning were Restaurant Brands, which shed 2c to $2.20 and NZ Refining, which slipped 10c to $3.45.

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In overseas markets US stocks capped their best three-day run in 10 months on Wednesday boosted by technology and industrial shares, after Spain unveiled an austerity plan that reassured investors Europe was addressing its fiscal ills.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 148.65 points, or 1.38 per cent, to 10,896.91. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 15.88 points, or 1.37 per cent, to 1171.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 49.71 points, or 2.09 per cent, to 2425.02.

In Britain the FTSE 100 index closed up 49.24 points, or 0.9 per cent, at 5383.45, having fallen 1 per cent on Tuesday.

Japan's Nikkei average slipped 0.2 per cent, erasing earlier gains as concern about the euro zone's debt woes continued to weigh on market confidence even after a $1 trillion European rescue package. The Nikkei closed down 17.07 points at 10,394.03, after rising nearly one per cent at one stage.

Australian shares rose 0.6 per cent, recovering some of the prior day's losses as upbeat budget forecasts supported prospects of further business investment and consumer spending. The S&P ASX 200 index rose 25.1 points to 4,572.9. The index had dropped 1.1 per cent on Tuesday.

- NZPA