NZ shares open strong

The New Zealand share market has opened strongly today, gaining 10 points in early trading after yesterday's lacklustre performance.

Among leading shares, Telecom gained 2c to $2.68, Contact shed 1c to $5.72, and Sky City gained 2c to $2.64.

Fletcher Building followed on with heavy trading from yesterday, climbing 4c to $6.60, after yesterday's news that a consortium of which it is a part had won a $406m contract for a tunnel under Victoria Park in Auckland.

Around 10.30am, the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 10.602 points to 2747.491, after slipping during yesterday's trading by 1.393 points to close at 2736.889.

Other shares to gain were NZ Refining, up 15c to $7.00, Auckland Airport, up 2c to $1.53 and Kiwi Trust, up 1c to 92.

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In the US, stocks rallied more than 2 per cent on Monday as bullish comments on financial sector performance from analyst Meredith Whitney lifted hopes that banks' quarterly results may be stronger than expected.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 185.16 points, or 2.27 per cent, to end at 8331.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 21.92 points, or 2.49 per cent, at 901.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 37.18 points, or 2.12 per cent, at 1793.21.

NZPA