NZ sharemarket starts strongly

The New Zealand sharemarket started the day with a burst after strong gains by global equities, as investor worry was eased after China rejected a report it was reviewing its euro-zone bond holdings due to the region's debt crisis.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 32.58 points to 3067.41, having yesterday gained 23.6 points after earlier in the day dipping below the 3000 mark for the first time in about 10 months.

Fletcher Building was up 12c early to $8.05, Contact Energy gained 8c to $6.00, Nuplex lifted 7c to $3.07, and NZX lifted 6c to $1.66.

Insurer and fund manager Tower also gained 6c, to $1.90, after saying it would pay its first interim dividend since 2002 as it reported a 28.8 per cent rise to $27.7m in underlying half year profit.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances were up 3c to 58 after saying its Appliances business had recovered in the second half of the financial year, despite a continuation of difficult trading conditions in the United States. Full year normalised group profit after tax of $18m, was down from $33.8m the year before.

Sky TV shares rose 5c to $4.70, The Warehouse was up 5c to $3.53, Sky City gained 4c to $2.96, NZ Oil & Gas was up 4c to $1.41, Tourism Holdings was up 3c to 84, Ryman Holdings lifted 3c to $2.14, Restaurant Brands was up 3c to $2.25, NZ Refining Co gained 3c to $3.28, and Auckland Airport lifted 3c to $1.90.

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In the US, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 2.9 per cent to 10,258.99, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 3.3 per cent to 1103.06, and the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 3.7 per cent to 2277.68.

- NZPA