Wellington, May 4 NZPA - Shares in leading stock Telecom edged ahead in early trading, after their slump on Friday, helping the overall market to an early gain.

Telecom, which had been a standout performer for some time, lost 19c on Friday. Early today it was back up 2c to 265.

The company reports its third quarter result this week and on Friday rival Vodafone said it was initiating legal action alleging Telecom's new network was the source of interference on its network.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 10.89 points to 2730.8, after a 20.7-point loss on Friday snapped a five-day run of rises.

Among other major shares Contact Energy was up 14c early today to 585 but Fletcher Building dropped 8c to 666.

Shares rising early included Auckland Airport up 3c to 169, Freightways up 3c to 295, Port of Tauranga up 3c to 545, and Sky City up 2c to 273.

Early falls included Fisher & Paykel Healthcare down 4c to 302, Cavalier Corp down 3c to 165, and Trustpower down 2c to 713.

In the United States, stocks rose on Friday (local time) as surging oil prices pushed energy shares higher and fresh economic data suggested key parts of the economy could be stabilizing.

The US factory sector contracted further in April, but at a slower pace, while consumers reported feeling more confident about the economy last month than at any time since September.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.5 percent to 8212.41 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.5 percent to 877.52, and the Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.1 percent to 1719.20 points.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.7 percent, the S&P gained 1.3 percent and the Nasdaq ended up 1.5 percent.

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