NZ sharemarket starts week positively

The New Zealand sharemarket posted modest gains on very low volume but brokers said it could be an interesting week with the US corporate reporting season getting under way.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 6.779, or 0.226 per cent, at 3012.028. Turnover was worth $42 million. There were 35 rises and 28 falls among the 105 stocks traded.

It was the seventh consecutive rise for the market, which continues to pull away from an 11 month low early in the month.

Telecom rose 3c to 195 on a day in which there was continuing speculation in Australia about the sale of its AAPT unit.

OceanGold rose 35c to 420 after an upbeat statement about the latest drilling results at its Frasers undergound mine in Otago.

"It is a reasonable day and all the Asian markets are up," said Ross Cuthbert, adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. But he added that volume was anaemic even for a Monday.

"Everyone looking forward to the reporting season, which is getting under way in US tonight with Alcoa," he said.

Along with the big corporates there is also interest in the big economies with United States retail sales and industrial production data this week and Chinese growth data.

SkyCity rose 2c to 291, Freightways rose 2c to 269, Mainfreight rose 4c to 634 and Auckland Airport rose 1c to 193.

Also gaining were The Warehouse up 1c to 344, Ryman Healthcare 2c to 202, SkyTV 4c to 476, Cavalier 5c to 250 and New Image 4c to 35.

Easing stocks included Contact Energy down 1c to 582, Fletcher Building 4c to 771, NZX 3c to 160, Pike River Coal 2c to 92, Tourism Holdings 3c to 75, Methven 2c to 148 and Michael Hill 1c to 69.

In the US on Friday, Wall Street closed out its best week in a year, snapping back from a long stretch of selling, as investors looked ahead to what many expect will be a solid earnings season.

Stocks ended near the day's highs, but trading was thin with the lowest-volume day of the year.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.6 per cent at 10,198.03, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.7 per cent at 1077.95, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1 per cent at 2196.45.

For the week, the S&P 500 was up 5.4 per cent, the Dow rose 5.3 per cent and the Nasdaq advanced 5 per cent.

- NZPA