Small early rise for NZ shares

Shares in Auckland Airport were up 6c to 192 soon after the market opened today, after the company said it expected its 2010 profit to be at the high end of its previously announced range between about $93 million and $100m, mainly due to improving passenger numbers.

Total international and domestic passenger numbers for the first five months of the 2010 financial year had been ahead of its previous planning assumptions, the company said.

The market as a whole managed a small early gain, with the benchmark NZX-50 index up 6.36 points to 3138.64 around 10.15am, having lifted 4.6 points yesterday.

Other stocks rising early included The Warehouse, up 4c to $4.15, and Fletcher Building up 5c to $7.80, while NZ Refining Co added 20c to $4.20 but on low volume.

But Telecom was down 2c early to $2.39, Cavalier Corp was down 5c to $2.45, and NZ Oil & Gas lost 3c to $1.74.

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In the United States, stocks rose as a narrower trade deficit for October and signs of improving trends in the labour market reassured investors the economy was on a steady recovery path.

Preliminary closing figures showed the Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.7 per cent to 10,405.83, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.6 per cent to 1102.32, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.3 per cent to 2190.86.

- NZPA