New Zealand sharemarket slips early

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The New Zealand sharemarket recorded a modest drop in the first few minutes of trading for the new week, as key stock Fletcher Building eased back.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 4.03 points to 3448.11, after gaining 12.3 points on Friday when the index hit a 31-month intraday high around 3454.5.

Fletcher Building shares, which hit a three-year high 938 last Thursday, slipped 2c early today to 932, with Sky City, also down 2c, to 340, Infratil down 2c to 191, Nuplex down 2c to 303, and Telecom edging down 0.5c to 204.

Steel & Tube gained 6c to 271, NZ Refining Co added 5c to 485, Ebos Group was up 3c to 759, Abano Healthcare lifted 3c to 455, Pumpkin Patch was up 2c to 135, and Contact Energy lifted 2c to 585.

In the United States on Friday (local time), stocks started a traditionally healthy month on strong footing.

Strong job growth and supportive comments on Federal Reserve policy from influential New York Fed Bank President William Dudley helped the market, but investors are looking to forthcoming earnings to kick the rally into a higher gear.

The Dow Jones industrial average hit 12,419.71 - its highest intraday level going back to June 2008 - before closing up 0.5 per cent at 12,376.72, the Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.5 per cent to 1332.41, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3 percent to 2789.60.

For the week, the Dow gained 1.3 per cent, the S&P added 1.4 per cent and the Nasdaq rose 1.7 per cent.

April is the best month for the Dow industrials going back to 1950, with an average gain of 2 per cent, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.

- NZPA