Moderate early rise for NZ sharemarket

After its 1.4 per cent dive on Friday, the New Zealand sharemarket started the new week with modest gains as Fletcher Building shares made up a little of the ground lost in recent weeks.

Earlier this morning the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 5.77 points to 3110.77, after losing nearly 44 points on Friday in the wake of a global equity rout. It is now two months since the market's recent peak around 3313 points.

Today's small gains on the NZX came after stocks in the United States ended slightly higher on Friday, erasing losses earlier in the day.

Fletcher Building shares gained 6c in early trade today to $7.58 after losing 18c on Friday. Telecom shares edged up 2c from Friday's 10-month low to $2.33 early

Retailer Hallenstein Glasson gained 9c to $3.64, The Warehouse lifted 3c to $3.78, Steel & Tube was up 3c to $2.83, and Sky TV gained 3c to $4.80.

Among stocks to lose a cent early, Auckland Airport was down to $1.94, Air NZ down to $1.29, Fisher & Paykel Appliances to 58, and Infratil to 161. Turners & Growers lost 15c, or nearly 10 per cent, early to $1.40. Dual-listed bank ANZ was up 55c early to $26.70.

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In the US on Friday, stocks erased a midday drop to end slightly higher, closing out a volatile week punctuated by mixed signals from the labour market data and growing anxiety over fiscal problems in Europe.

Major indexes turned positive heading into the close, as investors scooped up shares in the technology and materials sectors - two of the worst performers during the market's latest pullback.

US employers unexpectedly cut 20,000 jobs in January, but the unemployment rate dropped to a five-month low of 9.7 per cent, the Labor Department reported.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.1 per cent at 10,012.23, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended up 0.3 per cent at 1066.19, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.7 per cent to close at 2141.12.

For the week, the Dow fell 0.6 per cent, the S&P 500 slid 0.7 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 0.3 per cent, marking their fourth consecutive weekly drop.

- NZPA