NZ stocks: Market leaps after Wall St surge

Trader Andrew Mayers checks out the good news on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Photo / AP

The sharemarket has leapt ahead in early trading after United States stocks posted their best day in four months following comments from Citigroup that it was profitable in the first two months of 2009.

The US market also got a boost, lifting shares off 12-year lows, after a key lawmaker said he expected the reinstatement of a rule that hinders short-selling.

Among leading stocks in this country, Fletcher Building was up 22c early to $5.37, Contact Energy gained 7c to $5.67, and Telecom was up 5c to $2.40.

Big gains were made by dual-listed banks, with Westpac up $1.54c to $22.35 and ANZ up 65c to $17, although both increases were on small volume.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 53.83 points or 2.19 per cent, to 2516.53, after closing down 6.5 points yesterday.

Other stocks rising early today included NZ Refining, up 10c to $6.70, Sky City up 9c to $2.61, Nuplex up 7c to $1.10, and Ebos Group up 6c to $4.45.

Stocks gaining 5c early included Fisher & Paykel Healthcare to $3.51, Steel & Tube to $2.75, and Trustpower to $7.15.

Among those gaining 4c were Air NZ to 84c, F&P Appliances to 55c, Freightways to $2.79, Mainfreight to $3.45, and Ryman Healthcare to $1.26.

***

In the US, financials led the huge rally, rising 16 per cent after Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit also stated in a memo to staff of what was once the largest US bank that he was confident about its capital strength.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 5.8 per cent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 6.4 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 7.1 per cent.

The advance by financial shares marks a turnaround in investor sentiment after the sector has been hammered recently as banks' credit losses swelled.

Other standouts included technology shares, with a jump in bellwethers like Apple halting a three-day sell-off in the sector. - NZPA