Sharemarket up early

The New Zealand sharemarket lifted in early trade as Fletcher Building, now the market's top stock, gained 1.6 per cent.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 9.45 points to 3165.91, its highest level since last October. On Friday the index edged up 3.7 points.

Fletcher Building, which has passed Telecom when measured by market capitalisation, was up 13c early at $8.45, while Telecom lifted 1c to $2.68.

Other shares gaining early included Sanford, up 8c to $4.95, Mainfreight up 7c to $5.40, Restaurant Brands up 6c to $1.25, and Cavalier Corporation up 3c to $2.65.

Shares falling early included Port of Tauranga, down 16c to $6.64, Freightways down 8c to $3.12, Contact Energy down 4c to $5.94, and NZ Oil & Gas down 4c to $1.69.

* * *

In the United States, stocks rose on Friday (local time) as Procter & Gamble and major home builders advanced on positive brokerage comments and investors bet the economic recovery will be strong enough to sustain corporate profits.

The Dow Jones industrial average hit a new 11-month high and capped its best week in two months.

The Dow was up 0.4 per cent at 9820.20, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.3 per cent at 1068.30, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.3 per cent at 2132.86.

It was the market's second straight week of gains, with the Dow up 2.2 per cent, the S&P 500 up 2.5 per cent and the Nasdaq advanced 2.5 per cent.

- NZPA