NZ shares hold their own

The New Zealand sharemarket remained steady in opening trading this morning despite negative signals from overseas markets.

The benchmark NZX-50 index, which closed on Friday at 3111.251 points, gained slightly, up 0.356 points, or 0.01 per cent, to be at 3111.607 at 10.15am.

Among stocks to post gains were Methven was up 4c to $1.69, Ryman 1c to $1.84, Property for Industry 1c to $1.20 and Fisher & Paykel Health 2c to $3.22.

Westpac gained 99c, or 3.2 per cent, to $32 but on small volumes.

Fletcher Building was down 20c, or 2.4 per cent, to $8.05, ING Property lost 1c to 80 and Hellaby Holdings shed 2c to $1.68.

Guinness Peat Group slid 1c to 88 and Kiwi Income Property Trust was down 1c to $1.05.

Telecom was unchanged at $2.62, as was Fisher & Paykel Appliances at 65c.

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The Australian share market was predicted to open lower today, following a poor lead from Wall Street, where shares fell for a third consecutive day on Friday, with poor economic data prompting a sell-off.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 42.25 points to 9665.19, the Nasdaq dropped 16.69 points to 2090.92, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 6.40 points to 1044.38.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed 0.06 per cent higher at 5082.2 points, Frankfurt's DAX fell 0.42 per cent to 5581.41, and the CAC 40 index fell 0.51 per cent to 3739.14.

- NZPA