Modest early gains for NZ sharemarket

The New Zealand sharemarket made modest early gains, even as a small volume of shares in retailer Hallenstein Glasson gave up some of the strong gains of the past two trading days.

The Hallenstein Glasson shares were down 9c, or 2.3 per cent, early to 386, after rising 13c yesterday and 22c on Friday to a 28-month high following a forecast of a big profit increase.

Port of Tauranga gained 5c early to $6.80, reversing yesterday's decline, while market heavyweight Telecom lifted 2c to $2.10, following yesterday's 6c gain, as investors wait to see if it has done enough to win the favour of the Government.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 5.78 points to 3060.27, after yesterday gaining 9.9 points.

Other rises early today included Steel & Tube up 2c to $2.28, Mainfreight up 2c to $6.74 and Briscoe Group up 3c to $1.18.

Turners & Growers shares were up 4c to $1.45 following news the World Trade Organisation had ruled Australia's decades-old restrictions on imports of New Zealand apples broke international trade laws and should be amended.

Oyster Bay Wines shares fell 5c to $1.40 and Abano Healthcare was down 5c to $5.40.

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In the United States, stocks rose in the quietest session of the year on speculation that the Federal Reserve would signal potential steps to boost the sluggish economic recovery.

Volume was a mere 5.71 billion shares, compared with last year's estimated daily average of 9.65 billion shares, as investors were wary of taking new positions before the Fed's statement tomorrow morning (NZT).

Shares of Hewlett-Packard tumbled after chief executive Mark Hurd resigned late on Friday, following an investigation into sexual harassment charges by a female contractor.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.4 per cent at 10,698.75, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.6 per cent at 1127.79, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.8 per cent at 2305.69.

- NZPA