The sharemarket was today holding onto its positive direction from yesterday, largely on the strength of a rise in top stock Telecom.
Around 10.25am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 2.29 points to 3543.94 , with the All index up 0.7 points to 1020.2.
The market's mild 9.5-point rise yesterday,
which ended a five-day losing streak, came after stocks on Wall Street had rallied 2 per cent in their second-best performance of the year.
Today the NZ market was remaining positive early despite an overnight fall on US markets, which saw the Nasdaq dropping nearly 2 per cent, as a disappointing forecast by Intel Corp and a weaker-than-expected regional business activity report weighed on the market.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 83.32 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 10,928.10. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 10.68 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 1249.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 41.29 points, or 1.98 per cent, to 2039.42.
The main positive early on the New Zealand exchange was a 3c rise for market leader Telecom taking it to 406.
That move followed a busy day for the stock yesterday when nearly $324 million Telecom shares were traded. Interest was sparked by a single line of 70 million shares worth $280m traded at 399.
There were few other rises, while falls included Fletcher Building down 5c to 860 early as the stock continued to suffer from growing fears the housing sector is slowing on both sides of the Tasman.
Troubled carpet maker Feltex was down 2c to 20, with 300,000 shares traded early.
Retirement village operator Ryman Healthcare slipped 9c to 880 on low volumes, Sky City was down 1c to 516, and The Warehouse lost 4c to 471.
- NZPA
