The New Zealand sharemarket eased ahead early in the new week's trading.
The market had some support from Fletcher Building, up 2c early to $6.55, as it continued to climb back after hitting its lowest level in three weeks - $6.36 - last Wednesday.
But market leader Telecom slipped 1c early to $2.60, on top of an 8c fall on Friday after having reached a six-week high of $2.70 on Thursday.
Around 10.15am today the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 4.08 points to 2788.36, after losing 14 points on Friday.
Among shares gaining ground early were Trustpower, up 7c to $7.67, Sanford up 3c to $5.53, Freightways up 3c to $2.89, Tower up 2c to $1.80, Restaurant Brands up 2c to $1.02, and Methven up 2c to $1.42.
Shares declining early included Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which was down 3c to $2.85, while dual-listed ANZ fell 15c to $20.65.
In the United States, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose on Friday as positive broker comments on Microsoft boosted technology shares, but the major averages lost ground for the week for the first time in five weeks.
- NZPA
<i>NZ stocks:</i> Sharemarket steady in early trade
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