NZ market rises in wake of global surge

The New Zealand sharemarket rose as equity markets in many countries rallied in the belief that central banks will do even more to boost struggling economies worldwide.

The local market has risen in three out of four of the last sessions, helping put a 1.54 per cent fall on September 30 behind it.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 16.726 points at 3235.042 after opening up 19.49 points. It is the highest closing level since September 21.

Overnight, the Bank of Japan lit the fuse for markets when it unexpectedly cut rates closer to zero and said it would pour money into the markets through asset purchases. The move came as the US Federal Reserve is increasingly expected to stimulate the world's largest economy in a similar fashion.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.8 per cent on Tuesday but the local market could only manage a 0.52 per cent rise today.

"The market has not shot the lights out in quite the same way overseas markets did last night but it is still a pretty healthy day," said Ross Cuthbert, adviser at Craigs Investment Partners.

There was very little corporate news to trade off today.

Miner OceanaGold fell 2c to 500 after the lifting of a trading halt following the completion of a book build raising gross proceeds of $C115.5 million ($151.8m).

Methven was unchanged at 174 on a day it said its Kiri low flow shower won gold in the sustainable product category at the Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Design Awards.

Natural Healthcare company Comvita lost 11c to 190, after reporting first half sales down to about $36.5 million from $40.1m the year before.

Fletcher Building was unchanged at 807 after initially trading up 8c to 815 and Telecom rose 2c to 205.

Guinness Peat Group rose 1c to 71 and Sanford rose 5c to 405. Port of Tauranga rose 3c to 700.

Contact Energy eased 1c to 572 and Auckland Airport eased 2c to 206. Pike River Coal eased 2c to 110 and Freightways eased 3c to 299. AMP Office Trust eased 1c to 78.

In the United States, stocks rallied to a nearly five-month high, with the Dow Jones industrial average gaining 1.8 per cent to 10,944.72, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rising 2.1 per cent to 1160.75, and the Nasdaq Composite Index jumping 2.4 per cent to 2399.83.

US equities were helped by data showing the pace of growth in the US services sector accelerated more quickly than forecast in September, while hiring also picked up.

- NZPA