Warehouse shares surge in early trade

The New Zealand sharemarket rose in early trading, with a surge by shares in The Warehouse after it reported its full year results.

The retailer reported a 15.4 per cent fall in full year net profit, but when unusual items were excluded the result was up 5.3 per cent. A special dividend of 10c per share was announced.

About 10 minutes after the market opened, shares in The Warehouse were up 24c, or 5.9 per cent, to $4.28.

The benchmark NZX-50 index is up 12.5 points to 3139, after gaining 10.3 points yesterday.

Among shares to rise early Mainfreight was up 7c to $5.02, NZX was up 4c to $7.84, Freightways was up 3c to $3.20, leading stock Telecom gained 2c to $2.74, and Fisher & Paykel Appliances was up 2c to 77.

NZ Refining shares were down 3c to $4.92.

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In the United States, stocks gained for a fifth straight session, the longest string of gains since November, as a bright outlook from consumer product company Procter & Gamble and a successful Treasury bond auction boosted investors' confidence.

Strong demand for the sale of 30-year Treasury bonds lifted confidence in US assets, including stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.8 per cent at 9627.48, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 1 per cent at 1044.14, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.2 per cent at 2084.02.

- NZPA