KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket started with a solid lift, after stocks rallied around the world on optimism that interest rate cuts by several central banks will ease a looming global recession.
Fletcher Building was up 21c early to $5.70, Contact Energy gained 4c to $7.15 and Telecom lifted 3c to $2.34.
Around 10.20am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 24.73 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 2787.55.
Methven, which yesterday posted a half year 29.4 per cent lift in net profit to $5 million, was up 8c to 148 early today.
NZ Refining Co added 5c to $6.00 after today saying it expected net profit to be between $115m and $125m in 2008.
Freightways was up 5c to $3.05, having fallen 6c yesterday after reporting a lift in revenue and profit in the September quarter.
Among other shares to rise early today Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 2c to $2.95, Nuplex 4c to $5.15, Pike River Coal 2c to $1.35, Sky TV 10c to $3.80, Steel & Tube 8c to $2.99 and The Warehouse 4c to $3.99.
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In the US, stocks climbed as investors snapped up shares trading near their lowest levels in five years on optimism that aggressive rate cuts by global central banks, including the Federal Reserve, will help cushion a worldwide economic downturn.
Investors also found support in signs that efforts to loosen up clogged credit markets were taking hold as the rate that banks charge to lend US dollars to each other fell, freeing up cash needed to avert a sharp slowdown.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 2.1 per cent to 9180.69. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 2.6 per cent to 954.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.5 per cent at 1698.52.
- NZPA
