KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket started the week on a muted note after a lacklustre performance on Friday.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 3.834 points at 4230.223 after falling 25 points on Friday.
The small gain came after the US market rebounded on Friday on reassuring inflation news that may give the Federal Reserve room to lower interest rates.
In New Zealand, the focus was turning to this week's budget and today's retail sales report.
Fletcher Building recovered from a dip on Friday to rise 7c to 1164 in early trading.
Auckland Airport was up 1c at 270 and Air New Zealand was up 1c at 282.
Tower was down 1c at 217 and Telecom was unchanged at 486.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 1c at 379 but the appliances stock was down 3c at 364.
The Warehouse was down 2c at 675 after reporting better-than-expected sales figures last week.
* * *
In the US, higher energy costs pushed US producer prices up 0.7 per cent in April, but excluding volatile food and energy prices, the rate was unchanged from March.
The PPI data eased inflation concerns two days after the Federal Reserve decided to hold rates steady, citing the potential for inflation to rise.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 111.09 points, or 0.84 per cent, at 13,326.22. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 14.38 points, or 0.96 per cent, at 1505.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 28.17 points, or 1.11 per cent, at 2561.91.
- NZPA