Early gains for NZX

The New Zealand sharemarket gained strongly in early trading after overnight data indicated the United States may be starting to emerge from the worst recession in 70 years.

Investors piled into US stocks which logged their best one-day percentage gain in three months.

Earlier this morning the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 21.11 points to 3216.73, having closed down 7.2 points yesterday, a far smaller drop than recorded by Asian markets.

Among leading shares Telecom was up 3c early to $2.62 on top of a 4c gain yesterday, while Fletcher Building lifted 7c to $8.29 reversing yesterday's 6c loss, and Contact Energy gained 7c to $6.29.

NZ Refining gained 21c to $5.33, Mainfreight lifted 6c to $5.38, Trustpower added 5c to $7.60, Sky TV lifted 5c to $4.80, Sky City added 5c to $3.45, Freightways was up 5c to $3.05, and Pike River Coal was up 3c to $1.12.

The few stocks to lose ground early included Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which lost 6c to $3.04, while dual-listed bank ANZ was down 5c to $28.70.

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The rise in US stocks came after the government's first estimate of US gross domestic product showed the economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.5 per cent in the third quarter. The quarter of growth was the first after more than a year of contraction in GDP.

Equity gains were widespread, with big manufacturers, technology, financials, energy and the materials sectors all benefiting.

Sentiment was also boosted by stronger-than-expected quarterly results from consumer product heavyweights Procter & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 2.1 per cent to 9962.58, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 2.3 per cent to 1066.11 - marking its biggest one-day percentage gain in three months, and the Nasdaq Composite Index shot up 1.8 per cent to close at 2097.55.

- NZPA