NZ sharemarket opens slightly higher

The New Zealand sharemarket opened slightly higher and trading is expected to be reduced today by the Wellington Anniversary holiday.

The benchmark NZX-50 was up 2.747 points at 3355,469 in early trading.

Wall Street provided a positive lead on Friday after it was boosted by a strong performance by its General Electric, which rose 7.1% to its highest intraday level since November 2008 after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings.

Air NZ (NZX: AIR ) rose 1c to $2.26 as the investors continued to absorb its move to buy 14.99% of Virgin Blue. Commentators are optimistic the investment will do better than its previous foray into Australia vis airline Ansett.

Kathmandu (NZX: KMD ) was unchanged at $2.10 after the Sydney Morning Herald speculated about the future of the company's poorly performing United Kingdom stores, while quoting the company saying it was under no pressure to make a decision.

Auckland Airport (NZX: AIA ) was up 1c at $2.26. Steel & Tube (NZX: STU ) rose 3c to $2.30 and Mainfreight (NZX: MFT ) rose 4c to $8.05. Infratil (NZX: IFT ) rose 4c to $8.05.

Telecom (NZX: TEL ) was down 1c at $2.30 and Fletcher Building (NZX: FBU ) was up 3c at $7.80.

In the US, the Dow and S&P 500 rose as General Electric's earnings put a positive tone on the economic recovery, snapping a two-day losing skid for the benchmark index.

The Nasdaq was pulled lower by Google, ending a week marked by investors pulling back from outperforming technology shares.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 49.04 points, or 0.41%, to end at 11,871.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 3.09 points, or 0.24%, to 1283.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 14.75 points, or 0.55%, to 2689.54.

Google shares were down 2.4% as confidence that chief executive Larry Page would rejuvenate the internet search company wavered.

NZPA

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