KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket opened generally firmer today after it plunged 2.2 per cent yesterday to a fresh three-year low.
On Wall Street, shares closed mixed today after a key labour market report showed a drop in US payrolls but was not as bad as some investors had feared.
With trading thin ahead of the holiday, the market reacted to news that US employers shed 62,000 non-farm jobs and the unemployment rate held steady last month at 5.5 per cent, roughly in line with forecasts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 73.03 points or 0.65 per cent to end at 11,288.54 as markets closed early ahead of the Independence Day holiday.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite, however, fell 6.08 points or 0.27 per cent to 2245.38 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index increased a scant 11.38 points or 0.11 per cent to 1262.90.
Here a technical glitch meant there was no reading for the NZSX-50 benchmark index, which yesterday plunged 69 points.
However, among the top 50, there were 14 stocks up against seven down at 10.10am.
Lead stock Telecom continued to plumb new 15 year lows. It was down 2c to 326 after losing 11c yesterday.
Second-ranked Contact Energy was up 4c to 775, and third-ranked Fletcher Building was up 9c to 630.
Others to rise in the top 50 included Sky City, up 4c to 305 and Port of Tauranga, 4c to 644.
- NZPA
