The New Zealand sharemarket rose in early trading, even after a surge in oil prices drove down shares in the United States at the end of last week.
Around 10.20am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 7.98 points to 3453.25, after losing 5.1 points on Friday.
Fletcher Building was up
8c to 945, Ryman Healthcare lifted 7c to 255, Rakon gained 4c to 110, The Warehouse added 3c to 348, Contact Energy edged up 1c to 577, and Telecom was unchanged early on 198.5.
Among shares falling early, Mainfreight lost 6c to 927, NZX was down 3c to 214, OceanaGold dropped 2c to 398, and Steel & Tube lost 2c to 272.
Shares in fishing company Sanford were untraded early after closing at 564 on Friday, having risen 15.3 per cent from 490 on March 15, with the increase sparking an inquiry by the NZX.
Sanford said it was not aware of any factors behind the share price rise, but noted some renewed interest in its shares recently.
The company was affected by positive trends in commodity market prices, with recent export price statistics indicating improvements in seafood prices from a year ago.
In the United States on Friday (local time), stocks fell late as a spike in oil prices revived worries that inflation would derail the recovery, jolting a market that had been treading water ahead of corporate earnings.
Brent crude futures settled above $US126 a barrel, the highest level in 32 months, as the weak US dollar drove up commodities and intense fighting in Libya raised fears of prolonged supply cuts.
Trading volumes remained low, a sign that investors are holding off major new bets ahead of the release of quarterly earnings beginning next week.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.2 percent at 12,379.90, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.4 percent at 1328.15, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.6 percent at 2780.41.
For the week, the Dow rose 0.03 per cent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each lost 0.3 per cent.
- NZPA
