Markets rally as energy stocks rebound

Shares on the NZX were up this morning, taking a lead after a good day on Wall St.

The New Zealand share market rallied this morning following Wall Street which had its biggest one-day gain since last month.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index was up 0.71 per cent in early trading with Fletcher Building up 3.4 per cent at $6.99 and Xero up 1.35 per cent at $16.51.

On Wall Street a rally in battered energy shares led US stocks to rebound, while financials rose after upbeat results from JPMorgan Chase & Co. The S&P 500 ended back above 1900.

Though the market finished off its highs for the day, analysts said some investors see a bottom in energy shares, which were among the most heavily sold stocks in the market's rout that began at the start of the year.

The S&P energy sector shot up 4.5 per cent, its best percentage gain since late August. Shares of Exxon Mobil surged 4.6 per cent to $US79.12 while Chevron jumped 5.1 per cent to $US85.47, among the biggest boosts to the Dow and S&P 500. US and Brent oil prices ended more than two per cent higher.

Also rebounding were biotechs, with the Nasdaq Biotech Index ending up 4.0 per cent. "You have had people trying to pick a bottom both in the energy commodity itself and energy shares a few times in this long slide down and again today," said Rick Meckler, president of LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey.

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JPMorgan rose 1.5 per cent to $US58.20 on better-than-expected results. Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America also rose. Chipotle was up 6.1 per cent at $US454.30 after the company expressed confidence in preventing future food poisoning outbreaks at its chains.

The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 0.2 percent overnight, only the second day since January 4.