NZ sharemarket opens slightly higher

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The New Zealand sharemarket opened slightly higher and trading is expected to be reduced today by the Wellington Anniversary holiday.

The benchmark NZX-50 was up 2.747 points at 3355,469 in early trading.

Wall Street provided a positive lead on Friday after it was boosted by a strong performance by its General Electric, which rose 7.1 per cent to its highest intraday level since November 2008 after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings.

Air NZ rose 1c to 226 as the investors continued to absorb its move to buy 14.99 percent of Virgin Blue.

Commentators are optimistic the investment will do better than its previous foray into Australia vis airline Ansett.

Kathmandu was unchanged at 210 after the Sydney Morning Herald speculated about the future of the company's poorly performing United Kingdom stores, while quoting the company saying it was under no pressure to make a decision.

Auckland Airport was up 1c at 226. Steel & Tube rose 3c to 230 and Mainfreight rose 4c to 805. Infratil rose 4c to 805.

Telecom was down 1c at 230 and Fletcher Building was up 3c at 780.

In the US, the Dow and S&P 500 rose as General Electric Co's earnings put a positive tone on the economic recovery, snapping a two-day losing skid for the benchmark index.

The Nasdaq was pulled lower by Google, ending a week marked by investors pulling back from outperforming technology shares.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 49.04 points, or 0.41 percent, to end at 11,871.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 3.09 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1283.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 14.75 points, or 0.55 percent, to 2689.54.

Google Inc shares were down 2.4 percent as confidence that chief executive Larry Page would rejuvenate the internet search company wavered.

- NZPA