NZ sharemarket rises early

Monday 11th April 2011

The New Zealand sharemarket rose in early trading, even after a surge in oil prices drove down shares in the United States at the end of last week.

Around 10.20am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 7.98 points to 3453.25, after losing 5.1 points on Friday.

Fletcher Building (NZX: FBU ) was up 8c to $9.45, Ryman Healthcare (NZX: RYM ) lifted 7c to $2.55, Rakon (NZX: RAK ) gained 4c to $1.10, The Warehouse (NZX: WHS ) added 3c to $3.48, Contact Energy (NZX: CEN ) edged up 1c to $5.77, and Telecom (NZX: TEL ) was unchanged early on $1.98.5.

Among shares falling early, Mainfreight (NZX: MFT ) lost 6c to $9.27, NZX (NZX: NZX ) was down 3c to $2.14, OceanaGold (NZX: OGC ) dropped 2c to $3.98, and Steel & Tube (NZX: STU ) lost 2c to $2.72.

Shares in fishing company Sanford (NZX: SAN ) were untraded early after closing at $5.64 on Friday, having risen 15.3% from $4.90 on March 15, with the increase sparking an inquiry by the NZX.

Sanford said it was not aware of any factors behind the share price rise, but noted some renewed interest in its shares recently. The company was affected by positive trends in commodity market prices, with recent export price statistics indicating improvements in seafood prices from a year ago.

In the US on Friday (local time), stocks fell late as a spike in oil prices revived worries that inflation would derail the recovery, jolting a market that had been treading water ahead of corporate earnings.

Brent crude futures settled above U$S126 a barrel, the highest level in 32 months, as the weak US dollar drove up commodities and intense fighting in Libya raised fears of prolonged supply cuts.

Trading volumes remained low, a sign that investors are holding off major new bets ahead of the release of quarterly earnings beginning next week.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.2% at 12,379.90, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.4% at 1328.15, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.6% at 2780.41.

For the week, the Dow rose 0.03%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each lost 0.3%.

NZPA

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