Slight gains for NZ shares

The New Zealand sharemarket edged higher in opening trading this morning.

The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 2.1 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 3103.834 in the first quarter of an hour, on the back on a number of 1 and 2 cent gains.

Auckland Airport rose 1c to $1.82, Sky City gained 1c to $3.18, Fletcher Building was up 1c to $8.01 and Rakon was also up 1c to $1.00.

New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay was up 2c to 40, Tourism Holdings was up 2c to 92 and Freightways was also up 2c to $3.05.

Guinness Peat Group was unchanged at 82c while Telecom lost 1c to $2.33.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances lost 1c to 62, NZ Refining slipped 2c to $3.40 and Goodman Fielder shed 1c to $1.99.

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Meanwhile, US stocks edged higher on Thursday as data pointing to gains in the manufacturing sector offset Wal-Mart's disappointing outlook.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 19.80 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 10,329.04. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 1.28 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 1,100.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.87 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 2,229.16.

Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.28 per cent, clawing to its highest close in two weeks, as buying of defensive shares such as retailers outweighed profit-taking a day after the benchmark made its biggest gain in over two months. The Nikkei gained 28.86 points to 10,335.69 after rising 272.58 points on Wednesday.

Australian stocks fell 0.3 per cent after cautious outlooks by top companies such as Qantas Airways and as investors paused after the biggest one-day in gain 2- months in the previous session. The S&P ASX 200 index fell 12.96 points, to 4655.0. It had risen 100.10 points on Wednesday.

- NZPA