KEY POINTS:
Despite concerns around the world about the impact of surging oil prices, the New Zealand sharemarket made small gains in the first few minutes after opening today.
Helping lift the market, even as leading stocks declined, was an 11c or 6.9 per cent rise in Guinness Peat Group to 171.
About 10.10am the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 8.22 points to 3597.69, having closed down 1.9 points on Friday after falls in the three preceding days.
Leading shares to fall early today, despite the overall rise in the index, included No 1 stock Telecom, which lost 4c early to 387.
Contact Energy was down 5c early to 900, Fletcher Building eased 3c to 783, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 2c to 265.
Rising stocks included Renaissance Corporation up 2c early to 59, and Infratil, also up 2c, to 228.
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In the US, stocks fell on Friday to round out the worst week in three months as worries about high oil prices hammered energy-sensitive sectors and left investors on edge about inflation at the onset of a holiday weekend.
"Oil prices are what's driving us down again. As they just continue to go higher and higher, that's putting pressure on the economy, and as people think the economy is not going to do so well, that's hurting stocks," said Giri Cherukuri, head trader at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.
Since the start of the year oil prices have climbed by more than 30 per cent, sapping consumer spending on everything from driving to shopping.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.16 per cent to close at 12,479.63 on Friday. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 1.32 per cent to 1375.93, while the Nasdaq Composite Index ended down 0.81 per cent at 2444.67.
For the week, the Dow fell 3.9 per cent, the S&P 500 shed 3.5 per cent and the Nasdaq dropped 3.3 per cent.
- NZPA
