NZ shares modestly higher early

File photo / Paul Estcourt

The New Zealand sharemarket pushed modestly higher in early trade, its highest level in nearly seven months after a 25-point gain yesterday when several mid-cap stocks made strong runs.

Around 10.20am today the benchmark NZX-50 was up 4.53 points to 3329.29, having been up near 3331 points a few minutes earlier.

The last time the index was as high was in mid-April when it climbed to around 3349 points. That had been the highest point reached by the index since September 2008.

Among stocks rising early today Mainfreight was up 5c to $7.30, Contact Energy gained 4c to $5.99, Rakon added 2c to $1.30, Steel & Tube was up 2c to $2.42, while Telecom was unchanged on $2.05 and Fletcher Building was unchanged on $8.24.

The Warehouse fell 12c early to $3.84 and Hellaby Holdings lost 4c to $2.00. Both stocks went ex-dividend today.

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In the United States, stocks rose on the expectation the midterm election and a Federal Reserve decision would create a more business-friendly environment, though many traders forecast a selloff in the days ahead.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.6 per cent at 11,188.72, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.8 per cent at 1193.57, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.1 per cent at 2533.52.

The Fed is expected tomorrow to announce a programme of asset purchases of at least US$500 billion via quantitative easing - in effect printing money to buy bonds and lower borrowing costs.

- NZPA