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The New Zealand sharemarket has made small early gains this morning helped up by a 4c lift in Telecom shares to $2.25.
The New Zealand market opened after the Federal Reserve had cut United States interest rates half a percentage point, and despite falls in US equities following a steep sell-off in the last minutes of trade.
In this country Fletcher Building was also up 4c early to $5.65, but Contact Energy was down among the leading stocks, losing 5c to $7.10.
Bathroom products company Methven rose 2c to $1.32 after posting a half year 29.4 per cent lift in net profit to $5 million, reflecting a full six months' contribution from its British operations.
Around 10.20am the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 12.65 points to 2758.25, after closing up 58.5 points yesterday.
NZ Oil & Gas was up 4c to $1.29, on top of a 4c rise yesterday after expressing optimism about its position at its annual meeting.
Pike River Coal was up 4c to $1.40, and Sky TV was also up 4c, to $3.69.
Auckland International Airport was down 4c early to $1.72, after the company said it expected net profit for the year to June 2009 to be at the lower end of its previously stated $100-110 million range.
Overnight, stocks rallied in Europe, led by basic resources, insurance and banking shares. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 jumped 7.5 per cent to 897.06 points, and Britain's FTSE 100 rose 8.1 per cent to 4242.54.
But in the US, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 0.82 per cent at 8990.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 1.11 per cent to 930.09, although the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.47 per cent to 1657.21.
The late US sell-off sapped a rally that had driven up the Dow and S&P by more than 2 per cent after the Fed interest rate cut.
Wall Street sold off after the chief executive of economic bellwether General Electric was reported as saying he aimed for flat profit next year, even if revenues fall by 10 to 15 per cent.
- NZPA
