NZ stocks: Market edges up early

The New Zealand sharemarket edged ahead in early trading with Pike River Coal advancing again, to a five-month high.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 0.79 points to 3308.55, having yesterday fallen away from an 18-month high with a decline of 17.3 points.

With strong activity around coal stocks across the Tasman, Pike River added 3c early today to 112, building on its 10c gain yesterday.

Michael Hill International shares were unchanged on 70, after the company reported same store sales for the nine months to March lifted 5.4 per cent on a year ago.

Steel & Tube gained 5c to 270, Fletcher Building lifted 3c to 840, Restaurant Brands gained 2c to 215, Windflow Technology was up 6c to 98, and Air New Zealand gained 2c to 144.

Shares falling early included Cavalier Corp, down 3c to 264, and Mainfreight fell 2c to 646.

In the United States, stocks gained after surprisingly strong March retail sales increased optimism that an economic recovery is on track.

Investors snapped up retailers' shares after top US chains reported a record year-over-year increase in same-store sales for March. The sales reflected a boost in consumer demand that some investors had doubted would materialise, with job growth still anaemic.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.3 per cent to 10,927.07, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.3 per cent to 1186.44, and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.2 per cent to 2436.81.

- NZPA