NZ sharemarket gets early lift

Photo / Paul Estcourt

Shares in retailer Hallenstein Glasson continued to rise when trading started for the new week, following Friday's 6 per cent gain after the company forecast a big profit increase from managing its business well in a challenging trading environment.

Hallenstein Glasson was up 8c early today to $3.90, on top of a 22c increase on Friday, taking the price to its highest level in 28 months.

Shares in another retailer, The Warehouse were up 2c early today to $3.54, while Pumpkin Patch fell 2c to $1.74.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare shares gained 5c from a one-year low to $2.95 early, and Sky TV lifted 4c to a three-month high $5.06.

The largest stocks were unchanged early with Telecom at $2.02, Contact Energy at $5.69 and Fletcher Building untraded since closing at $7.64 on Friday.

Around 10.25am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 5.13 points to 3049.76, after edging down 0.04 per cent on Friday.

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In the United States, stocks fell after government data showed a larger-than-expected drop in July payrolls, giving investors a stark reminder the economic recovery remains slow.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.2 per cent to 10,653.56, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 0.4 per cent to 1121.64, and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.2 per cent to 2288.47.

For the week, the Dow and the S&P 500 each rose 1.8 per cent, while the Nasdaq advanced 1.5 per cent.

- NZPA