NZ sharemarket lifts early

The New Zealand sharemarket was showing signs of extending its run of gains to a sixth consecutive trading day, opening in positive territory after some encouraging news for investors from the United States.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 5.33 points to 2989.27, following a gain of 22.2 points yesterday, as the market tries to pull away from the 11-month low below 2930 points reached in intraday trading last Friday.

Investment company Hellaby Holdings continued its rise of recent days with an early 5c gain to $1.75, on top of an 18c rise over the previous two days after the company said its core debt was down 51 per cent and it will either redeem in cash or roll over maturing notes, meaning shareholders will not be diluted.

Ebos Group also gained 5c early, taking its price to $6.15, while Sky TV lifted 3c to $4.67, and Mainfreight was up 3c to $6.25. Telecom edged up 1c to $1.88, with Contact Energy also up 1c, to $5.87.

Fletcher Building was down 4c to $7.71, retailer Hallenstein Glasson fell 4c to $3.65 on low volume, and Restaurant Brands slipped 2c to $2.33.

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In the US, Wall Street rose for a third straight day as investors were encouraged to see jobless claims fall and a handful of large retailers report solid sales.

Stocks have regained their footing after a slew of poor data had raised fears of a double-dip recession. But low market volume suggested investors are still skeptical, and few expect to see a sustained rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.2 per cent at 10,138.99, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.9 per cent at 1070.25, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.7 per cent at 2175.40.

- NZPA