Restaurant Brands leads sharemarket up

Restaurant Brands' shares powered ahead in early trading, gaining nearly 10 per cent, as the broader market lifted moderately.

Shares in the operator of the New Zealand outlets of KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks Coffee, were up 14c to $1.60, their highest level in more than four years.

Around 10.15am, the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 7.91 points to 3133.43, having gained 31.1 points yesterday.

Other shares rising early included Port of Tauranga, up 9c to $7.10, Fletcher Building up 6c to $7.90, and Sky TV up 5c to $4.70. Telecom edged up 1c to $2.47, while Contact Energy slipped 1c to $5.85.

Dual-listed ANZ was up 35c to $28.20, while Westpac rose 16c to $30.66.

Stocks falling early included NZX, down 4c to $7.80, Kiwi Income Property Trust down 2c to $1.01, and Rakon down 2c to $1.13.

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In the United States, stocks rebounded late, led by financial shares, on hopes that possible fallout for US banks from Dubai's debt woes will be contained.

The Dow Jones industrial average posted its fifth-straight month of gains, while both the Dow and the S&P 500 had their largest monthly percentage advances since July.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.3 per cent on the day to close unofficially at 10,344.84, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.4 per cent to finish unofficially at 1095.63, and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.3 per cent to close unofficially at 2144.60.

- NZPA