Shares gain after interest rate held

The New Zealand sharemarket lifted in early trade after Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard left the official cash rate unchanged at a record low 2.5 per cent.

In his announcement today, Bollard also repeated his message that the Reserve Bank continued to expect the OCR to remain at or below current levels until the latter part of 2010.

He focused on risks to the present "patchy" recovery posed by the rise of the New Zealand dollar and the possibility a recovery in house prices could undermine improvements in household savings.

The benchmark NZX-50 index is up 8.8 points to 312.2, after losing 5.1 points yesterday.

Among leading shares Telecom was up 2c early to $2.72, Fletcher Building was unchanged on $8.02 and Contact Energy was unchanged on $6.02.

Stocks rising early included Rubicon, up 5c to $1.15, Sky City up 3c to $3.22, Freightways up 3c to $3.20, Xero up 3c to $1.35, Methven up 2c to $1.60 and Ebos Group up 2c to $6.10.

Those falling early included Sanford, down 7c to $5.00, Hellaby Holdings down 4c to $1.50, and Cavalier Corporation down 2c to $2.48.

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In the United States, stocks closed higher for a fourth straight day as industrial and technology companies gained from a weak US dollar.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.5 per cent at 9547.22, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.8 per cent at 1033.37, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.1 per cent at 2060.39.

The close for the S&P index was the highest since October 6.

Nasdaq's advance was limited by Apple, which fell 1 per cent to US$171.14. Chief executive Steve Jobs appeared at a company event after recovering from a liver transplant, and some analysts remarked on how thin the 54-year-old chief executive looked.

- NZPA