KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket started the week solidly, after US stocks ended last week by soaring after oil prices plunged.
Top stock Telecom clawed back 1c in early trade today to 341, having closed down 28c, or 7.6 per cent, on Friday after the company reported its operating surplus from continuing operations fell 15.5 per cent to $713 million for the year to the end of June.
Around 10.10am the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 19.4 per cent to 3377.22, having lost 21.1 points on Friday.
In early trading today Auckland Airport was up 3c to 200, with Air New Zealand also rising 3c, to 127.
Contact Energy was up 5c to 875, Fisher & Paykel Appliances rose 6c to 217, F&P Healthcare lifted 8c to 299, Rakon was up 12c to 314, and Sky City gained 5c to 375.
Rising 4c early were TrustPower to 778, Tower to 220 and The Warehouse to 348. Fletcher Building was up 3c to 672, ahead of its results announcement on Wednesday.
The few stocks to fall included Cavalier Corporation, down 7c to 245, and NZ Oil & Gas down 2c to 153.
Along with a fall in the price of oil to below US$115 a barrel, many New Zealand shares are also benefiting from a fall in the value of the NZ dollar which saw the currency dip below US70c for the first time in around 11 months on Friday.
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US stocks soared on Friday, rounding out their best week in more than three months, as the plunge in oil eased inflation concerns and improved prospects for business and consumer spending.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 2.65 per cent to 11,734.32, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 2.39 per cent to 1296.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2.48 per cent to 2414.10.
For the week, the Dow gained 3.6 per cent, the S&P 500 advanced 2.9 per cent and the Nasdaq shot up 4.5 per cent. It was the best week for all three indexes since April 20.
- NZPA
