An early gain by top stock Telecom helped the New Zealand sharemarket off to a positive start, despite concerns around the world about the impact of a swine flu outbreak.
Telecom shares were up 7c to $2.70 shortly after the sharemarket opened today, after the company released its proposals for two options (see Link at right) for achieving the Government's ultra-fast broadband goals.
Telecom also gained 4c yesterday and has been trending up from a low of $2.24 at the start of the month.
Among other leading stocks Fletcher Building was down 4c early to $6.20 and Contact Energy was down 1c to $5.59.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances was unchanged at 44 early after announcing it had reached an agreement to extend the date for repayment of its interim bank funding facility to May 29.
Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 7.7 points to 2672.08, after a gain of 8 points yesterday.
Most of the early stock gains were of only 1c, although NZX was up 5c to $6.80 on low volume, on top of yesterday's 15c gain after lifting its first quarter net profit 40 per cent from a year earlier.
Early declines included Ebos Group down 5c to $4.70, Cavalier Corp down 5c to $1.65, Air NZ down 2c to $1.06 and Auckland Airport down 2c to $1.65.
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In the United States, stocks fell on concerns the spreading of the new strain of flu could dampen optimism about the economy, overshadowing a sweeping overhaul of General Motors Corp and gains in biotechnology stocks.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.6 per cent to 8025.00, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 1 per cent to 857.51, and the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.9 per cent to 1679.41.
- NZPA
<i>NZ stocks:</i> Telecom gain helps sharemarket early
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