KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket lifted in early trade as investors pushed up the price of Telecom and other leading stocks.
Around 10.10am today the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 9.49 points to 3367.2, having gained 4.5 points yesterday.
Top stock Telecom was up 4c early to 327, reversing its fall of 4c yesterday, the day it went ex dividend.
Fletcher Building was up 8c to 728, while Contact Energy rose 4c to 840.
Other stocks rising early included Pike River Coal, up 4c to 199, Sanford up 5c to 605, Sky TV up 3c to 496 and The Warehouse up 3c to 340.
NZ Oil & Gas was down 5c to 155, after oil plunged more than US$4 ($5.82) as concerns that Hurricane Gustav would cause lasting damage to the US oil sector eased after the storm weakened before hitting the Louisiana coast. Around 9.30am US crude was trading at US$111.22.
Infratil was down 3c early to 230.
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US markets were closed overnight for the Labour Day holiday, while Europe's main stock markets closed lower with the London market undermined by comments from Britain's finance minister that the country faced a severe economic downturn.
Japanese share prices closed down 1.83 per cent as Friday's losses on Wall Street and a stronger yen depressed sentiment.
- NZPA
