KEY POINTS:
A strong early showing by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare helped keep the sharemarket positive at the start of Christmas Eve trading.
By 10.25am the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 8.8 points to 4002.31. Rises outnumbered falls 19 to 10 from 69 stocks traded, with a turnover of 2.4 million shares worth $9.7 million.
Today's firm start on low volumes, followed a 1 per cent surge in this country on Friday followed by a jump in US stocks to end last week.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 17c early to 355, while partial takeover target Auckland International Airport added 4c to 284, following an 8c gain on Friday.
Hellaby Holdings was up 4c to 251 and TrustPower up 5c to 830.
Top stock Telecom fell early, down 2c to 440, while dual-listed Lion Nathan shed 20c to 1070 after a 60c gain on Friday.
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US stocks had their largest rise in three weeks, as strong results from the company behind the BlackBerry boosted technology shares while financials rose on a report that another US brokerage may get a big foreign investment.
The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 1.55 per cent, to 13,450.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index leaped 1.67 per cent, to 1484.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.94 per cent, to 2691.99.
- NZPA