KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket moved slightly higher in early trading today.
Top stock Telecom was unchanged at 324 but Fletcher Building reversed most of yesterday's 5c loss with a 4c gain early to 731.
Guinness Peat Group eased a further 2c to 141, having lost 5c yesterday after reporting a disappointing interim result and the announcement from Sir Ron Brierley that he intends to retire as chairman in 2010.
Among the few other stocks to fall, Rakon was down 3c early to 290.
Around 10.15am today the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 3.61 points to 3322.13 after a 2.5-point fall yesterday.
Stocks to rise early included Steel & Tube, up 7c to 340, TrustPower up 9c to 795, The Warehouse up 5c to 340, and Contact Energy up 6c to 845 on small volume.
Specialty resins and chemicals company Nuplex was unchanged at 630 early after announcing a 42 per cent rise in operating profit to $53.4 million, resulting from improved productivity after significant restructuring.
Wine company Delegat's was also unchanged, on 223, after posting a 77 per cent rise in annual net profit to $19.1m.
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In the US, stocks rose as surprisingly strong data on durable goods orders soothed some concern about the sluggish economy while Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac led a rally in financial shares.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.79 per cent at 11,502.51. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.80 per cent at 1281.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.87 per cent at 2382.46.
Trading volume, which has been light for much of August, was especially thin ahead of the US Labor Day holiday weekend. Thin trade can exaggerate price moves.
- NZPA
