KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket lifted in early trading today to show yesterday's battering was not a knock-out blow.
The local market followed Wall Street up after both markets had been beaten down 2 per cent yesterday.
US stocks managed to book solid gains in seesaw trade, amid lingering concerns about the financial health of two big mortgage finance firms and Lehman Brothers, with the Dow ending three quarters of a point up.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 16 points to 3129 at 10.20am.
Market leader Telecom recovered 2c of yesterday's 14c loss to be on 339, while Contact Energy picked up 7c of its 11c loss to be on 758 and No 3 stock Fletcher Building picked up 7c of 30c to be on 650.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 3c to 238 and Ryman Healthcare was up 4c to 165.
On the downside, Tower shed 3c to 191. Hallenstein Glasson, which yesterday warned its annual net profit would be down 30 per cent, fell another 5c to 255 after losing 9c yesterday.
Among the smaller stocks, Wakefield Health was up 15c to 840 and Mr Chips was up 14c to 290.
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In the US, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a rise of 82.32 points to 11,229.76 at the closing bell.
The Nasdaq composite index gained 22.96 points (1per cent) to 2257.85 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index increased 8.86 points (0.7 per cent) to a preliminary close of 1253.55.
- NZPA
