The New Zealand sharemarket sprung into action at the start of the week with prices rising early across a range of stocks.Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 9.34 points to 3319.58, within striking distance of the 18-month high 3327 reached l
The New Zealand sharemarket sprung into action at the start of the week with prices rising early across a range of stocks.
Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 9.34 points to 3319.58, within striking distance of the 18-month high 3327 reached last Wednesday. On Friday the index gained 2.5 points.
In early trading today NZ Refining Co lifted 6c to 400, Fletcher Building gained 4c to 842, fishing company Sanford lifted 4c to 445, OceanaGold was up 8c to 348, Delegats Group added 3c to 185, Trustpower was up 3c to 734, Infratil gained 2c to 179. and Restaurant Brands lifted 2c to 217. Telecom was up 1c to 222 and Contact Energy lifted 1c to 642.
Among the few stocks to fall early, Turners Auctions lost 6c to 147, Freightways lost 2c to 318, and Auckland Airport was down 1c to 201.
In the United States on Friday (local time) the Dow Jones industrial average topped 11,000 at one stage for the first time in a year-and-a-half after Chevron's upbeat outlook, and wholesale inventories data reinforced bets on an improving economy.
Chevron Corp climbed 2.4 percent to $US79.50 a day after it said its refining and marketing arm would return to profit in the first quarter.
Data showed US wholesale inventories rose more than expected in February and sales at wholesalers reached their highest level in 16 months.
The Dow gained 0.6 percent to end at 10,997.35, the Standard&Poor's 500 Index rose 0.7 percent to 1194.37, and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.7 percent to 2454.05.
For the week, the Dow rose 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.4 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 2.1 percent.
