KEY POINTS:
The share price of top stock Telecom was dragged back above the $4 level when the sharemarket opened today in a buoyant mood.
Taking its lead from United States equities, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 23.57 points to 3694.21 around 10.15am today.
Telecom shares were up 4c early to 402, having lost 2c yesterday after Communications Minister David Cunliffe said he was still considering submissions on Telecom's amended separation plan and had not ruled out rejecting it outright.
After the market closed yesterday Hamilton Hindin Greene partner Grant Williamson said Telecom's share price was "right on support levels".
"You wouldn't want to see it go too much under where it is currently," he said.
Also gaining early today were other leading stocks Fletcher Building, up 10c to 1017, and Contact Energy up 5c to 767.
New Zealand Oil and Gas rose 5c to 115 after yesterday reporting strong quarterly cashflows and saying the Tui production well was operating better than expected.
The Warehouse was up 10c to 575, on top of a 10c rise yesterday which came despite a decision allowing the Commerce Commission to challenge a court ruling that had allowed rival grocery firms freedom to bid for The Warehouse.
Among other stocks to rise early today were Sky City up 3c to 440, Sky TV up 3c to 533, Rakon up 3c to 335, Fisher & Paykel Appliances up 8c to 288, and Hallenstein Glasson up 9c to 371.
The rise in US stocks overnight came after executives of MBIA Inc, the world's largest bond insurer, offered reassurances about the company's outlook, fueling buying of shares in the financial sector.
Investors also bought retailers and major manufacturers, and homebuilders also climbed on hopes lower interest rates would ease the housing slump's drag on the economy.
At the end of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.86 per cent, to close unofficially at 12,679.00. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.41 per cent, to close unofficially at 1374.9 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.15 per cent for an unofficial close at 2399.6.
- NZPA
