KEY POINTS:
A rally on Wall Street fuelled by tumbling oil prices helped the local shares extend their rebound in early trading today.
On Wall Street, investors shook off renewed fears about the credit squeeze and further economic turmoil to take blue chips 1.35 per cent higher.
Ailing banking stocks led the rebound, after encouraging comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who indicated the central bank was likely to extend emergency loans to investment firms.
The NZSX-50 benchmark index built on yesterday's 39.1 point rally to rise 16 points to 3177 at 10.20am.
Third-ranked Fletcher Building, which sank to a three-year low last week, climbed another 12c to 665 to build on yesterday's 5 per cent gain.
Top stock Telecom rose 7c to 348 after rising 9c yesterday and No 2 stock Contact Energy was up 6c to 778 following a 12c gain.
NZ Oil & Gas lost 4c to 168 after New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, tumbled by US$5.33 ($7.17) to close at US$136.04 a barrel.
Pike River Coal fell another 6c to 204 after a fall of 8c yesterday. Pike has been falling due to pressure on coal prices.
Air NZ responded to the fuel price fall with a 3c gain to 113, while Sky TV rose 7c to 427, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare 5c to 235 and The Warehouse 7c to 405.
Pumpkin Patch rose 6c to 154 after Kathmandu founder Jan Cameron's disclosure yesterday of her 6.3 per cent stake in the childrens' clothing company.
***
In the US, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average jumped 151.76 points to 11,383.72 at the closing bell.
The Nasdaq tech-dominated composite index rallied 51.10 points (2.28 per cent) to 2294.42 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 17.46 points (2.24 per cent) to 1273.51.
- NZPA
