NZ stocks: Market up as Telecom gains

The sharemarket rose in early trading today, buoyed by gains in top stock Telecom.

By 11.35am the benchmark NZSX-50 gross index was up 13.06 points to 2923.35, while the NZSX-All capital index gained 3.87 points to 965.52.

Bellwether stock Telecom was up 4c at 604, on turnover worth $12.7m. Total market turnover in the time was worth $24.9m, with 42 rises and 24 falls among the 125 stocks traded.

Michael Hill Jeweller continued to steam ahead, up 5c at 835, on top of its 40c hike yesterday.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances fell 5c to 425, after it downgraded its full-year profit yesterday to around $75 million to $78 million, down from $83.5 million last year. The company reported a net profit of $34.5 million for the six months to September, slightly below its result of $34.9 million at the same time last year.

F&P Healthcare rose 2c to 309c as it continued to recover from the 11c dumping it took on Wednesday after its 11.5 per cent rise in half year failed to impress investors.

Ports of Auckland was unchanged at 665, after the Northland Regional Council said it was looking to sell a 19.9 per cent stake in Northland Port Corporation (NPC) to Ports of Auckland for around $24 million.

Port of Tauranga, which is a 50/50 partner with NPC in Northport, the operator of the deepwater port at Marsden Pt, was up 6c at 585.

Other stocks on the move by 11.35am today included: Contact Energy up 3c at 623; Carter Holt Harvey up 1c at 216, Fletcher Building up 5c at 585; NZX up 25c at 765; and TrustPower up 8c at 530.

Meanwhile in the US overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 87.90 points, at 10,473.3, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 10.91 points at 1173.82 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 26.83 points to 2061.39.

- NZPA