Sharemarket flat early

Tuesday 14th December 2010

Shares in Skellerup rose in early trading on the New Zealand stock exchange after NZX announced Skellerup would move on to the NZX-50 index, replacing Pike River Coal which went into receivership yesterday.

Pike River would be removed from all its equity indices, while Skellerup's position on the NZX-50 would be effective from December 20, NZX said.

Shortly after the market opened today, Skellerup (NZX: SKL ) shares were up 5c to 104, its highest level in 3-1/2 years.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 was down 1.22 points to 3290.07, after gaining 18.4 points yesterday.

Mainfreight (NZX: MFT ) gained 5c to 775, The Warehouse (NZX: WHS ) lifted 2c to 377, and Sky City (NZX: SKC ) was up 2c to 319, while Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (NZX: FPH ) lost 3c to 307.

In the US, a late selloff pushed stocks to session lows at the close, dragged lower by declines in technology and other sectors, with the Nasdaq Composite ending an eight-day winning streak.

Preliminary data showed the Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.2% to 11,428.56, the Standard & Poor's 500 edged up 0.1 point to 1240.46, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5% to 2624.91.

NZPA

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