Sharemarket flat early

The New Zealand sharemarket opened flat, with retailer The Warehouse slipping as it faces possible industrial action in the lead-up to Christmas.

Around 10.15am, the benchmarket NZX-50 index was up 2.54 points to 3151.99, having edged up just 2.8 points yesterday in quiet trading.

The Warehouse shares were down 3c to $4.05 early, with the National Distribution Union reporting yesterday that retail staff had voted to strike over their working conditions.

Restaurant Brands shares were down 2c to $1.60 and Contact Energy fell 2c to $5.92. Early risers included Pumpkin Patch up 4c to $1.90, PGG Wrightson up 2c to 60c, Hellaby Holdings up 2c to $1.60 and Telecom up 1c to $2.47, while Fletcher Building was unchanged on $7.90.

Among dual-listed shares, ANZ dropped 72c to $28.25, Westpac was down 16c to $31.10, while Telstra gained 6c to $4.45.

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In the United States, the Nasdaq ended higher as investors grew optimistic about Amazon.com Inc's holiday sales prospects, but the Dow and S&P 500 were little changed after oil prices retreated, pressuring shares of energy companies.

Based on preliminary data, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.2 per cent to close unofficially at 10,452.68, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index edged up just 0.03 per cent to finish unofficially at 1109.24, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4 per cent to close unofficially at 2185.03.

- NZPA