Firm start for NZ sharemarket

Wednesday 8th December 2010

The New Zealand sharemarket started the day firmly, with key stocks Telecom and Fletcher Building both rising early.

Around 10.10am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 9.17 points to 3291.03, after yesterday closing down 11.3 points.

Fletcher Building (NZX: FBU ) gained 4c early to 787 after yesterday losing 7c, while Telecom (NZX: TEL ) lifted 3c early to 218 cancelling out its decline yesterday, and another leading stock, Contact Energy (NZX: CEN ) edged up 1c to 618.

Before the market opened it was announced that a joint Telecom and Vodafone proposal was one of three short-listed for the Government's rural broadband initiative.

Sky City (NZX: SKC ) rose 3c to 321, The Warehouse (NZX: WHS ) was up 2c to 378, Auckland Airport (NZX: AIA ) added 2c to 209, Opus International (NZX: OIC ) lifted 3c to 190, Pumpkin Patch (NZX: PPL ) was up 2c to 167, and Xero (NZX: XRO ) gained 5c to 220.

Ebos Group (NZX: EBO ) lost 4c to 758, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (NZX: FPH ) was down 2c to 315.

In the US stocks eked out a small gain as investors' enthusiasm over a tax cut extension deal was short-circuited by rising bond yields and reports regulators were stepping up an insider trading probe.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.03% at 11,359.16, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.1% at 1223.75, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.1% at 2598.49.

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