NZ sharemarket starts day firmly but ends little changed

The New Zealand sharemarket was little changed today after stepping a percent lower on Thursday.

Asian markets were mostly lower even though Wall Street put in a strong performance and snapped a six-day long losing streak before they opened.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 1.881 points at 3490.626 after opening up 9.26 points.

Local markets were a long way from any sustainable move higher as skittish traders were still selling into strength, said Ben Potter at IG Markets. "Only when we see traders willing to let profits run can we truly say sentiment has turned," he said.

Fletcher Building was up 9c to 866 early after yesterday falling 18c, while Contact Energy eased 2c to 584 following a 16c decline yesterday.

Kathmandu rose 3c to 221 as news spread that former owner Jan Cameron has linked up with rival Macpac.

Cavalier Carpets rose 5c to 365 after half-owned Cavalier Wool was cleared to buy the scouring operations of Wool Services International. Godfrey Hirst, the country’s biggest carpet manufacturer, is appealing Commerce Commission decision.

Tower rose 7c to 182, Goodman Fielder rose 5c to 130 and AMP rose 14c to 636.

Air NZ rose 3c to 105, while Auckland Airport fell 2c to 226.

Abano Healthcare rose 5c to 465 and Ryman Healthcare eased a cent to 280.

Mainfreight rose 17c to 1001 and OceanaGold rose 5c to 297. The Warehouse rose 1c to 369 and Hallenstein Glasson rose 8c to 390.

SkyTV eased a cent to 570, Telecom eased a cent to 231.5 and Michael Hill eased a cent to 92.

SkyCity eased 5c to 346 and Sanford eased 5c to 530.

In the United States, Wall Street ended higher but many analysts saw the rebound as short-lived.

A report showing record US exports in April eased some concerns about a stalled economic recovery, which had been weighing on the market.

A spike in oil prices helped lift materials and energy stocks. Investors also snapped up beaten-down stocks in the financial sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.6 percent at 12,124.36, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.7 percent at 1289.00, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4 percent at 2684.87.