Wellington, March 25 NZPA - The New Zealand sharemarket closed slightly higher, unaffected by economic-growth data released today.

The NZX-50 index closed up 4.82 points, or 0.149 percent at 3237.5, after opening slightly lower. There were 35 rises and 37 falls. Turnover was worth $78 million.

Statistic New Zealand reported today a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increase of 0.8 percent in the December quarter, mostly led by the manufacturing sector.

But ASB Securities advisor Stephen Wright the GDP figures were as expected by commentators, so there was no reason to get excited.

"It's just continuing a very quiet market that we've seen for most of this year. We've also have the back drop that Asian markets in general are a wee bit weaker. There is nothing to really inspire our market.

"It's just relatively flat."

Among top stocks, Fletcher Building shares were up 5c to 835, an increase from 826 this morning, and Telecom was up 1c to 214. Contact Energy stocks were flat at 612.

Shares in clothing retailer Hallenstein Glasson went down 5c to 340 despite the company reporting a 56 percent rise in first half profit.

Another retailer, The Warehouse went ex-dividend today on a 17cps dividend, bringing its shares down by that amount to 382.

Gainers included NZ Refining Co, up 8c to 403, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, up 3c to 327, and NZ Oil & Gas, up 1c to 156.

Mainfreight dropped 1c to 601, Sky TV fell 1c to 517 and Freightways dropped 1c to 313.

In the United States, stocks fell as Portugal's credit rating downgrade and a weak Treasury note auction stirred concerns about sovereign debt.

Major indexes eased a day after hitting 18-month highs, with losses across most sectors on light volume. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.5 percent to close at 10,836.15, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.6 percent to end at 1167.72, and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.7 percent to close at 2398.76.