NZ Shares: Market up more than 1pc early

The New Zealand sharemarket rose more than 1 per cent in early trade after United States stocks surged on some unexpected good housing news.

Among leading stocks Fletcher Building gained 21c early, on top of a 15c gain yesterday, to $5.91. Contact Energy gained 13c to $5.88, while Telecom was up 3c to $2.38, on top of yesterday's 7c gain.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 30.2 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 2594.92, having risen 20.4 points yesterday and 20.9 points on Monday.

Dual-listed bank Westpac was up 40c early to $22.10, while ANZ gained 16c to $17.91.

Freightways was up 5c to $2.90, Sky City gained 5c to $2.80, and Sky TV rose 3c to $3.80. Fisher & Paykel Appliances dropped 4c early to 42.

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In the US, stocks were boosted by an unexpected leap in housing starts which pushed Home Depot and other retailers higher, while bullish comments from a broker on Cisco Systems helped technology shares rebound.

A nearly 4 per cent rise in US crude oil futures boosted energy shares.

"Investors are starting to get a sense that things are stabilizing. They're not getting any worse," said Terry Morris, a portfolio manager with National Penn Investors Trust Company in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Preliminary closing figures showed the Dow Jones industrial average up 2.5 per cent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index up 3.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index up 4.1 per cent.

- NZPA