NZ sharemarket slips early

Air New Zealand shares edged up in early trading after the company, responding to a media report, said it had not bought any shares in airline Virgin Blue.

The two airlines are seeking regulatory approval for an alliance on trans-Tasman operations, and today's statement from Air New Zealand did not appear to rule out an option for it to buy a Virgin Blue stake in future.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported aviation industry sources had said Air New Zealand wanted to buy up to 15 per cent of Virgin Blue, after the airlines appeared to have won indicative support from regulators for the proposed joint venture on services between New Zealand and Australia.

Shortly after the market opened today Air New Zealand's share price was up 1c to $1.04.

Auckland Airport's shares slipped 1c to $1.95 after the company said it was to further delay the building of a planned second runway, with the existing runway able to handle expected growth for a few years longer than earlier envisaged.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 5.85 points to 2996.47, having fallen 25.1 points yesterday after weakness in offshore markets.

Contact Energy shares fell 4c to $5.70 and Port of Tauranga was down 3c to $6.87.

***

In the United States stocks ended little changed, recouping losses late in the day, led by a sudden turnaround in Goldman Sachs and BP.

BP's US-listed shares jumped 7.6 per cent after the company said no oil was leaking from its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since the accident began in April.

Goldman Sachs' gains coincided with the Securities and Exchange Commission saying that it would make a "significant announcement" later in the afternoon. The announcement prompted speculation the SEC was going to settle fraud charges with Goldman Sachs, which proved to be true.

The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 0.1 per cent to end at 10,359.31, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.1 per cent to 1096.48, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was off 0.03 per cent to 2249.08.

- NZPA