The New Zealand sharemarket lifted in early trade, although Guinness Peat Group (GPG) lost 5c early to 143 after posting its first half results.
For the six months to the end of June the company made a loss of Stg42 million, compared to a Stg94 million net profit in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Chairman Sir Ron Brierley today said that the company had a profit of Stg15m from normal trading sources and sales of shares, before share portfolio writedowns of Stg35m. Hence the overall loss for the period was Stg20m.
There was also a deferred tax adjustment of Stg22m which was purely IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) ``nonsense and can be safely disregarded as a legitimate inclusion in any proper analysis of the result''.
Around 10.15am the benchmark NZSX-50 Index was up 4.7 points to 3325.7 after dropping 5.9 points yesterday.
Top stock Telecom was unchanged early after a 6c fall yesterday, while Fletcher Building gained 9c to 741.
Contact Energy was up 5c to 845, having gained 9c yesterday after posting a 1 percent fall in full year net profit to $237.1m, and underlying earnings up 0.7 percent at $232.8m.
Air New Zealand shares were up 1c to 121, having dropped 2c yesterday on news the national carrier's annual net profit fell 1 percent to $218m while operating revenue rose 9 percent.
Carpet maker Cavalier Corporation was up 3c to 275, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 2c to 300, and NZ Oil & Gas up 3c to 157. Freightways down 3c to 335 was among few stocks to fall early.
In the US, the Dow and S&P 500 rose as hurricane fears lifted oil prices and boosted energy shares, blunting the effect of a report that showed a growing number of problem US banks.
Trading volume was light and volatile, but traders said energy prices were the key mover.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.23 percent at 11,412.87. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.37 percent at 1271.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.15 percent at 2361.97.