KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket moved up in early trading today, with Fletcher Building continuing to add to its gains of last week.
Around 10.25am, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 8.66 points to 3359.8, after a 17.2-point rise on Friday.
Fletcher Building shares have been rising since the company announced its full year result last Wednesday, and early today they were up another 11c to 710.
Also helping the market early was a 2c lift in top stock Telecom to 326, after a 4c fall on Friday, while Contact Energy was up 3c on small volume to 860.
Ryman Healthcare was up 2c to 172 and The Warehouse was up 2c to 363.
No shares were traded early in Freightways which reported a 5 per cent increase in full year net profit to $32.3 million.
Shares to fall early included NZ Oil & Gas, down 3c to 146, Pike River Coal down 3c to 180, and NZ Farming Systems Uruguay down 2c to 176.
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In the US, the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose on Friday, as sinking commodity prices raised hopes of a consumer spending recovery, helping push shares of retailers higher.
A rally in the US dollar on fears about slowdowns in economies outside the United States pushed the price of oil down to a 15-week low.
The Dow rose 0.38 per cent to 11,659.90, but for the week finished down 0.6 per cent. The S&P 500 gained 0.41 per cent to 1298.20, and inched up 0.1 per cent for the week.
The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.05 per cent to 2452.52 on Friday, but for the week ended up 1.6 per cent.
- NZPA
