Wellington - The New Zealand stock market - the first to open in the world every day - rose slightly Monday morning after opening down in nervous early trading.

The benchmark NZX 50 index, which slumped 4.7 per cent to 2,805.31 on Friday, started the day down 0.74 per cent but reversed early losses by noon to be up 1.15 per cent at 2,837 and rising.

Banking shares were among the stocks to rise following the government's announcement Sunday of a scheme to guarantee all savers' deposits, designed to reassure local investors spooked by the worsening international financial crisis.

Assuming a government liability of up to 150 billion New Zealand dollars (about 90 billion US dollars), Finance Minister Michael Cullen said that New Zealand had been in the uncomfortable position of being the only Western country not offering any guarantee on bank deposits following Australia's move to introduce a scheme. (dpa)