Sharemarket edges ahead early

Shares in Pyne Gould Corp were unchanged at 46c in early trade after it raised $30 million in a placement with institutions at 43c.

Trading in Pyne Gould shares was halted yesterday while the bookbuild process for the placement was carried out. The placement followed a successful rights issue to raise $237m.

Overall the market edged ahead as leading shares chalked up small gains. A few minutes after the market opened Fletcher Building was up 3c to $8.35, Telecom was up 1c to $2.50, and Contact Energy gained 1c to $6.20.

Yesterday , Telecom fell 6c, Fletcher Building fell 8c, and Contact dropped 8c after holding its annual meeting.

Around 10.15am today the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 3.56 points to 3205.25, having closed down 16.5 points yesterday.

Among other stocks rising early today, NZ Refining Co lifted 5c to $5.45, Mainfreight was up 3c to $5.63, and Freightways lifted 2c to $3.15. Dual-listed Telstra gained 5c to $3.97.

The few stocks to fall early included Sky City which gave up 3c to $3.41, after falling 2c yesterday when $18.7m worth of its shares traded.

Vector shares were up 1c to $2.01 after the company said that in line with expectations growth in overall connections fell in the first quarter, compared to a year earlier, and overall energy volumes were down.

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In the United States, stocks rose after several companies reported solid earnings that lent credence to the idea corporate profitability has stabilised.

Financials were among the top gainers after insurer Travelers Cos Inc raised its full-year outlook and New York Fed President William Dudley said the Federal Reserve may not lose money on the emergency programmes it put in place to fight the financial crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.3 per cent to end at 10,081.31, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 1.1 per cent to 1092.91, and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 14.56 0.7 per cent to 2165.29.

- NZPA