KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand share market had its best opening session of the week this morning, gaining more than 1 per cent.
The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 30.995 points, or 1.128 per cent, to 2778.896 in the first quarter of an hour, after it closed yesterday at 2747.901.
More than a dozen stocks headed upwards , led by NZX, which gained 37c, or 7.66 per cent, to $5.20.
In the wake of the OCR being slashed to 3.5 per cent this morning, Westpac rose 91c, or 4.76 per cent, to $20.01 and ANZ Banking Group was up 73 cents, or 4.49 per cent, to $16.98.
Steel & Tube rose 10c to $2.81, Fletcher Building rose 16c to $5.64 and Telecom was up 5c to $2.65.
The only stock to lose ground shortly after the market opened was Hellaby Holdings, which fell 1c to $1.14.
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In the United States financial stocks led Wall Street sharply higher on investor hopes the Obama administration will create banks to absorb the bad assets weighing down the financial system.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index, a benchmark for the overall stock market, rose for the fourth straight session; it hasn't closed higher four consecutive days in two months. The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 175 points.
In late afternoon trading, the Dow industrials rose 178.34, or 2.18 per cent, to 8,353.07.
Broader stock indicators also rose. The S&P 500 index jumped 26.23, or 3.10 per cent, to 871.94. The index last recorded four straight gains in late November.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 52.42, or 3.48 per cent, to 1,557.32.
- NZPA
