KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket started the day well, with sound gains among leading stocks.
Around 10.10am, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 21.52 points to 3333.13, reversing Friday's 20.5-point fall.
Sky City shares were down 5c early to 338 after posting full year net profit down 49 per cent to $49.9 million, although when adjusted for non-recurring items the result was up 19 per cent to $111.9m
Top stock Telecom was up 5c early to 328, reversing a fall of the same size on Friday. Contact Energy, which reports its results tomorrow, was up 8c to 850 after an 18c fall on Friday.
Fletcher Building was continuing its recovery, following its August 13 profit announcement, with an early 18c gain to 738.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 3c early to 308, after putting in the star performance on Friday with a 13c rise having told shareholders at the annual meeting that first-half profit was likely to be up 38 per cent on last year and the second half was looking good too.
Also up early today was Nuplex, with a 5c gain to 630, Hallenstein Glasson up 2c to 285 and Hellaby Holdings up 3c to 180.
Stocks down early included NZ Oil & Gas, off 5c to 146, and Tower which slipped 2c to 229.
US stocks ended last week with a rally, scoring their best daily gain in two weeks.
Hopes that Lehman Brothers may attract a major investor lifted financial stocks while a plunge in oil prices soothed worries about inflation and consumer spending.
The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 1.73 per cent to 11,628.06. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1.13 per cent to 1292.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.44 per cent to 2414.71.
For the week, the Dow finished down 0.3 per cent while the S&P slipped 0.5 per cent and the Nasdaq fell 1.5 per cent.
- NZPA
