KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket made a solid start to the week, after getting close to lows hit two years ago on Friday.
Helping the market up today were gains by leading companies Contact Energy and Fletcher Building.
Fletchers was up 11c to 683 early, having hit its lowest level since mid-2005 on Friday as it came under huge pressure from offshore sellers, particularly from Australians whose own sharemarket has also been weakening.
Contact Energy was up 14c early to 859.
Around 10.15am today the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 19.13 points to 3435.13.
The good start to the week in this country come after US stocks closed higher on Friday (local time).
The US market was helped by a government report that showed underlying price pressures rose moderately in May, easing fears that inflation would force a near-term rise in interest rates.
An easing in the still sky high price of oil also added to the market's positive tone.
In this country, along with Fletchers and Contact, other early risers included top stock Telecom, up 1c to 379.
Sky TV was up 5c to 435, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare up 2c to 242, Auckland Airport up 2c to 212, Scott Technology up 4c to 118, and NZ Farming Systems Uruguay up 5c to 188.
Stocks to fall early included Hallenstein Glasson, down 4c to 300, Infratil, down 3c to 215, with PGG Wrightson down 3c to 272.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.37 per cent on Friday, to 12,307.35. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.5 per cent at 1360.03.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.09 per cent at 2454.50.
The S&P ended little changed for the week, while the Dow gained 0.8 per cent and the Nasdaq fell 0.8 per cent.
- NZPA
