Modest early gains for NZ shares

The New Zealand sharemarket has gained modestly in early trading, with property trusts standing out among the early risers.

Kiwi Income Property Trust units gained 4c early to $1.04 on volume of nearly 1.7 million units, while ING Property Trust lifted 4c to 79.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 7.44 points to 3161.37, after two days of meagre gains, closing up just 4.5 points yesterday and up just 2.8 points on Wednesday.

Also rising early were Fletcher Building shares, lifting 5c to $7.92, as the share price climbed further away from its lowest level in nearly three months of $7.62, hit late in November.

Steel & Tube was up 2c to $2.75, SkyTV lifted 2c to $4.73 and Property for Industry gained 2c to $1.18.

Shares losing ground early included NZ Refining Co, down 3c to $4.24, Sky City down 3c to $3.37, and Contact Energy down 3c to $5.82. Dual-listed bank Westpac fell 66c to $30.50.

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In the United States, stocks fell as data showed the services sector shrank unexpectedly in November, while financials led a late sell-off that dragged the major indexes to session lows just minutes before the close.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.8 per cent to close unofficially at 10,366.15, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 0.8 per cent to end unofficially at 1099.92, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.5 per cent to finish unofficially at 2173.14.

- NZPA