Strong start by NZ sharemarket

The New Zealand sharemarket started strongly as agreement on a 750 billion euro sovereign debt rescue package from the European Union sparked big rises on markets around the world.

About 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 31.47 points, or 1 per cent, to 3202.09, after falling nearly 150 points in three days from last Wednesday.

Yesterday it picked up 11.8 points after the announcement European policy makers had set up massive defences to protect the euro and restore confidence in financial markets.

Trustpower rose 11c to 731 early, Sanford lifted 11c to $4.31, Sky TV was up 9c to $4.90, Nuplex was up 9c to $3.35, Fletcher Building gained 8c to $8.03, Restaurant Brands gained 6c to $2.30, and Port of Tauranga lifted 5c to $6.90.

Stocks rising 4c early included Rakon to 99, Pike River Coal to $1.07, and Mainfreight to $6.36, while 3c gains were recorded early by Telecom, to $2.14, Ryman Healthcare to $2.11, NZ Refining Co to $3.60, Freightways to $3.22, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare to $3.48.

The dual-listed banks had big early gains with ANZ up 75c to $29.75 and Westpac up 69c to $32.00.

In the United States stocks racked up their best one-day gain in more than a year as the emergency rescue package quelled fears a new credit crisis would derail European economies.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 3.9 per cent to 10,785.14, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 4.4 per cent to 1159.73, and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 4.8 per cent to 2374.67.

All three indexes achieved their strongest gains since March 23, 2009, when the United States released details of a plan to buy toxic assets from banks after a market slide that had pushed major indexes to their lowest in 12 years just weeks before.

Overnight, European shares posted their biggest daily rise in more than 17 months, with the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares surging while volumes were more than 2-1/2 the index's 90-day average volume.

- NZPA