KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket was firm in early trading after Wall Street performed strongly on the sixth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 14.9 points to 4175.1 at 10.10am. Turnover was light at $27 million.
No 2 stock Fletcher Building led the way up with a 14c rise to 1191. Market leader Telecom was up 2c to 447 while No 3 stock, Contact Energy was down 10c to 905.
Michael Hill was up 10c to 1030, Pumpkin Patch up 5c to 330, while Mainfreight was up 4c to 699 as was Port of Tauranga to 705.
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In the US, stocks rallied as investors gained confidence amid growing market hopes the Federal Reserve would move to slash US borrowing costs next week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average streaked 180.54 points (1.38 per cent) higher to a close of 13,308.39 while the Nasdaq composite rocketed 38.36 points (1.50 per cent) to a finish of 2597.47.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 19.79 points (1.36 per cent) to 1471.49.
- NZPA