NZ sharemarket edges up early

The New Zealand sharemarket edged up in early trade after stocks mostly fell in the United States following a downgrade by the Federal Reserve in its assessment of economic recovery in the US.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 3.08 points to 3057.37, having gained less than 0.1 points yesterday.

Sky City shares rose 3c early to 295, Mainfreight was up 3c to 614, and Auckland Airport lifted 2c to 194, while Ebos Group lost 3c to 627, and seafood company Sanford fell 2c to a 26-month low at 404.

Telecom was unchanged early on 195, after a 5c gain yesterday which was attributed to bargain hunting and recent news that Telstra would participate in Australia's broadband plans.

Investors are hoping for something similar for Telecom in this country.

In the US investors wrestled over the implications of the Fed's decision to renew its vow to hold benchmark interest rates exceptionally low.

Its less bullish statement hurt a broad range of stocks with banks among the day's weakest.

"There was definitely a more negative tone," said Dan Cook, senior market analyst at IG Markets in Chicago.

"The Fed doesn't have a great outlook, but that wasn't totally unexpected with the housing and labour market data we've seen lately."

The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 0.05 percent to finish at 10,298.44, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.3 percent to close at 1092.04, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3 percent to close at 2254.23.

- NZPA