NZ sharemarket starts week stronger

The New Zealand sharemarket rose in early trading, although Telecom's share price fell 3 per cent.

Guinness Peat Group shares were up 4c to 86c after reporting a full year loss of £36 million ($78.1m) with chairman Ron Brierley saying the company's board was working on proposals for the early implementation of a commitment to return value to shareholders.

Among the leaders, Contact Energy gained 5c to $6.17 and Fletcher Building was up 2c to $7.95, but Telecom lost 7c to $2.26.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 12.07 points to 3168.17, after gaining 4.4 points on Friday.

Rakon lifted 2c to $1.00 and Auckland Airport was up 2c to $1.88 while stock exchange operator NZX was unchanged on 205 after reporting a 280 per cent rise in full year net profit to $38.7 million, with the result boosted by asset sales.

Teamtalk lifted 5c to $2.30 and Wakefield Health was up 16c to $7.00.

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In the United States, stocks edged up, capping their best monthly advance since November, though lower on the week, as data showed the US economy grew a tad better than expected in the fourth quarter.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 0.04 per cent to 10,325.26, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.1 per cent to 1104.49, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.2 per cent to 2238.26.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed up 1.1 per cent, with European bank and commodity stocks leading the share price gains as metal and oil prices rose.

- NZPA