KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket lifted in early trade today, led up by top stock Telecom.
By 10.20am the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 12.17 points to 3912.06, nearly reversing yesterday's 12.3 point drop.
The market opened with rises exceeding falls by 25 to six, among 61 stocks traded, on turnover of 5.6 million shares with a value of $27.4 million.
The early lift for the market came after US stocks continued to recover from a poor start to the year, helped by assurances of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
European stocks, however, ended lower after the European Central Bank held rates at its latest meeting, while Japanese stocks slid to an 18-month closing low, dragged down by fears of a slowdown in the US economy.
Here, Telecom shares were up 4c early to 430, after losing a cent yesterday. Shares in the country's largest listed company started the year at 434 and had been as low as 418 on Wednesday.
Another leading stock, Fletcher Building, also rose early after losing a cent yesterday, adding 3c to 1085.
Other stocks to gain early included Nuplex up 5c to 675, Sky TV up 6c to 568, Sky City up 2c to 428, Air New Zealand up 2c to 182, The Warehouse up 2c to 564, Pumpkin Patch up 2c to 247, and Sanford up 2c to 410
Among stocks that declined early were Contact Energy, down 2c to 825, following an 11c gain yesterday.
Also down early were Fisher & Paykel Appliances, off 2c to 320, Property for Industry down 2c to 134, and TrustPower down 3c to 819.
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US investors were encouraged by comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that the Fed was "ready to take substantive additional action as needed to support growth and to provide adequate insurance against downside risks".
Equities in the US were also helped by news Bank of America is in talks to buy struggling mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp, the largest US home mortgage lender which denied rumours of bankruptcy earlier this week.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 0.92 per cent, at 12,853.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.79 per cent, at 1420.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.56 per cent, at 2488.52.
- NZPA