KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket started flat but slowly gathered upward momentum as the Australian market raced ahead.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 35.802 points, or 1.269 per cent, at 2856.664. There were 48 rises and 30 falls and volume was worth just $42.56 million.
"We got off to a very slow start. But when Australia opened it got us moving higher," said Grant Williamson, partner at Hamilton, Hindin, Greene.
The leaders were the main beneficiaries of the restored sentiment with Telecom up 9c to 244, Contact Energy up 30 to 755 and Fisher & Paykel Appliances up 10c to 145.
But Fletcher Building was unchanged at 580.
"You get the feeling there is a bit of confidence returning to the market as we get rid of horrible October," said Mr Williamson.
There was little corporate news to trade off and investors are keen for a clear result from Saturday's election.
APN was up 18.26 per cent to A$2.85 ($3.30) in Australia in afternoon trading after its Irish parent said it had received approaches for its 39.1 per cent stake in the company.
Michael Hill rose 3c to 71 and Sanford rose 20c to 575. Also gaining were Air NZ 3c to 94, SkyTV 11c to 400 and NZOG 3c to 132.
Easing stocks were Infratil down 2c to 191, Port of Tauranga 10c to 650, SkyCity 11c to 319, Hellaby 10c to 160 and Auckland Airport 6c to 177.
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.6 per cent to 9325.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1.5 per cent to 968.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.3 per cent to 1720.95.
- NZPA
