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The New Zealand sharemarket made small gains in early trading, despite weakness on Wall Street.
An early 7c rise in Fletcher Building stocks to 588, on top of a 7c gain yesterday, help lift the local market, along with a 20c rise in Telstra to 480.
Shares in The Warehouse were up 7c to 355 after the company said sales for the 10 weeks to January 4, covering the critical Christmas period, were down 2.5 per cent from a year ago.
Adjusted group first half net profit to January 25 was expected to be similar to last year's figure of $56.8 million.
Around 10.15am the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 7.06 points to 2751.95, following a 29.2-point gain yesterday.
Other stocks rising early included Sky TV up 5c to 380, Air NZ up 2c to 92, Methven up 2c to 126, and NZ Oil & Gas up 2c to 130.
Among the few stocks to decline early, Mainfreight eased 2c to 498 while Auckland Airport was down 1c to 167.
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In the US, caution returned to Wall Street as investors gave back some gains from last week's rally, even as they found some encouragement from a report that construction spending fell less than forecast.
They were also upbeat about President-elect Barack Obama's calls for an economic stimulus package that could include tax cuts.
Preliminary closing figures show the Dow Jones industrial average down 0.9 per cent, the Standard & Poor's 500 index down 0.5 per cent, and the Nasdaq 0.3 per cent lower.
- NZPA