KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket caught part of the positive exhaust coming from the US in the opening to trading this morning.
The benchmark NZX-50 index opened at 2676.952 and in the first quarter of an hour gained 21.058 points, or 0.787 per cent to 2698.010.
Early risers were Telecom, up 6c to $2.38, Nuplex up 5c to $3.05, Auckland Airport gaining 3c to $1.70, Fletcher Building up 10c to $5.80 and Contact up 3c to $6.81.
Stocks in the negative were Hallenstein Glasson Holdings down 5c to $2.25 and Hellaby down 2c to $1.21.
The buoyancy reflected Wall Street's rebound from an early sell-off to end higher after the government said it would assist troubled US automakers on Friday.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down more than 200 at the open when it appeared the bailout might be dead. But all the major indicators began to regain ground when the White House and the Treasury announced they were considering diverting money from the Wall Street rescue fund to the US carmakers.
The Dow rose 64.59, or 0.75 per cent, to 8629.68. The Dow had tumbled 196 points on Thursday as worries intensified that the auto bill would stall in the Senate.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 6.14, or 0.70 per cent, to 879.73, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 32.84, or 2.18 per cent, to 1,540.72.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 17.22, or 3.82 per cent, to 468.43.
For the week, the Dow ended with a loss of fewer than 6 points, or 0.07 per cent. The S&P 500 rose 0.42 per cent, while the Nasdaq advanced 2.08 per cent because of Friday's gains.
Since its November 20 low, the Dow is up 14.3 per cent, the S&P 500 is up 16.9 per cent and the Nasdaq has a gain of 17.1 per cent.
- NZPA
