The New Zealand sharemarket shuffled along early today as it continues to hover under five-month highs.Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 2.99 points to 3233.82, having spent much of the past three weeks close to, but below, a highpoint near
The New Zealand sharemarket shuffled along early today as it continues to hover under five-month highs.
Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 2.99 points to 3233.82, having spent much of the past three weeks close to, but below, a highpoint near 3253 points reached on September 21.
Telecom edged up 1c to 203, after Communication and Information Technology Minister Steven Joyce said he had approved a variation to Telecom's operational separation undertakings, but not as originally sought by the company.
Ebos Group gained 5c early to 705, Contact Energy added 1c to 570, and Fletcher Building was unchanged on 809, while Sky City lost 4c to 288 and Hallenstein Glasson was down 5c to 430 but on low volume.
In the United States, stocks hit fresh five-month highs as details from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting showed the US central bank may once again flood markets with cheap cash "before long" to further boost growth.
The minutes from the Fed's September meeting served as another strong signal for a stock market that has surged for weeks on rising hopes for more Fed action.
Shares of drilling contractors rose after the Obama administration lifted its ban on deepwater drilling seven weeks ahead of schedule.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.1 percent to 11,020.40, the Standard&Poor's 500 Index rose 0.4 percent to 1169.77, and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.7 percent to 2417.92.
