NZ stocks: Market climbs over 1pc

A robust performance on Wall Street spurred bargain hunters on the New Zealand sharemarket to push the NZX 50 index up 41.6 points to 2606.3, a lift of 1.6 per cent.

Across the Tasman, Australian shares rose to a one-month high - led by bank stocks such as Commonwealth Bank - but were flattened by significant losses in global miners such as Rio Tinto to a rise of only 0.04 per cent.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 21.2 points to 3,473.1 by lunchtime, above its one-month high of 3451.9 points on Tuesday, but finished up only 1.5 points at 3453.2 points.

This all happened in the wake of the Dow rising 2.5 per cent, S&P 500 lifting 3.2 per cent and a 4.1 per cent boost for the Nasdaq.

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

Japan's Nikkei share average rose above the psychological barrier of 8000 points on Wednesday for the first time in over a month. The benchmark Nikkei climbed 55.99 points or 0.7 per cent to 8005.

- NZPA