Wellington, March 16 NZPA - NZ Refining Co shares rose 5c to 345 in early trading after reporting "significant" improvement in refinery margins in the first two months of 2010, after starting to show some recovery in December.

Fletcher Building shares were up 11c shortly after the market opened, to the highest level in eight weeks, but by 10.15am the gain had been pulled back to just 2c, with the price at 820.

About the same time, the benchmark NZX-50 index had slipped 1.23 points to 3229.92. Yesterday the index reached an eight-week intraday high at 3241.4, but by the close of the day the gain had been whittled back to 6 points.

Shares losing ground early included Mainfreight down 3c to 615, Sky City down 2c to 326, and The Warehouse down 2c to 388.

World equities eased, despite a late-day rally in United States stocks, on fears that a likely move by China to tighten credit may slow global growth.

US stocks rebounded a bit on a late rebound in banking shares after Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd released a proposed financial regulation overhaul bill that investors said did not offer any surprises for the sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average unofficially closed up 0.2 percent at 10,642.15, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.1 percent to 1150.51, and the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.2 percent to 2362.21