The New Zealand sharemarket edged higher in opening trading this morning.The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 2.1 points, or 0.07 percent, 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 18
The New Zealand sharemarket edged higher in opening trading this morning.
The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 2.1 points, or 0.07 percent, 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 182, Sky City gained 1c to 318, Fletcher Building was up 1c to 801 and Rakon was also up 1c to 100.
New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay was up 2c to 40, Tourism Holdings was up 2c to 92 and Freightways was also up 2c to 305.
Guinness Peat Group was unchanged at 82c while Telecom lost 1c to 233.
Fisher&Paykel Appliances lost 1c to 62, NZ Refining slipped 2c to 340 and Goodman Fielder shed 1c to 199.
Meanwhile, US stocks edged higher on Thursday as data pointing to gains in the manufacturing sector offset Wal-Mart Stores Inc's disappointing outlook.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 19.80 points, or 0.19 percent, to 10,329.04. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index gained 1.28 points, or 0.12 percent, to 1,100.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.87 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,229.16.
Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.28 percent, 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 percent after cautious outlooks by top companies such as Qantas Airways and as investors paused after the biggest one-day in gain 2-½ 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.
