KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket opened higher this morning on the back of Wall Street posting gains at the weekend.
The NZSX-50 was up 14.402 at 4066.852 in early trading recouping some of the 36.67 point fall on Friday.
The move came after US stocks jumped on Friday as surprisingly strong data on home sales and durable goods orders relieved anxiety about the economy and bolstered investor confidence after weeks of market turbulence.
The focus here today was on finance companies listed on the stock exchange as all provided comfort letters before a deadline passed for them to answer a query from the stock exchange.
The focus is also on the ongoing profit reporting season with Contact and Air New Zealand among a large number of companies reporting tomorrow.
Hellaby was down 10c at 295 after reporting a loss today.
Air NZ was up 3c at 208 and Auckland Airport was up 1c at 312.
Telecom was down 13c at 415.
Mainfreight was up 5c at 705. The Warehouse was down 1c at 568. TrustPower was down 7c at 817.
Cavalier was up 3c at 319. Fletcher Building was up 15c at 11.60.
- NZPA