KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket opened positively this morning, as overseas markets soared higher than expected.
The benchmark NZX-50 index jumped in the first 15 minutes by 104 points, or 3. 874 per cent, to 2791.204.
Leading the way in the top 50 was Fletcher Building which jumped 45c, or 8.14 per cent, from $5.53 to $5.98.
Steel and Tube gained 21c, or 7.39 per cent, to $3.05, and Rakon increased 12c, or 6.59 per cent, to $1.94.
Telecom was among the more heavily traded and gained 10c, or 4.41 per cent, to $2.37. Guinness Peat was also popular - posting a 5c gain, or 5.56 per cent, to 95c.
The positive mood followed an astounding advance on Wall Street on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrials soaring nearly 900 points in their second-largest point gain ever as late-day bargain hunters stormed into the market. The Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index were each up nearly 11 per cent.
Some analysts said buying early in the day came from anticipation of an interest rate cut Wednesday by the Federal Reserve, and the market just followed its recent pattern of building on its gains or losses in the last minutes of the session.
The Dow rose 889.35, or 10.88 per cent, to 9065.12. That was its second-largest point gain, coming after the 936 points the Dow jumped on October 13.
Broader stock indicators also surged. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 91.59, or 10.79 per cent, to 940.51, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 143.57, or 9.53 per cent, to 1,649.47.
The Fed is expected to cut its target fed funds rate by half a point to 1 per cent.
Investors worldwide snapped up stocks after posting huge declines Monday on economic worries. Japan's Nikkei stock average jumped 6.41 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 14.4 per cent - its biggest gain in 11 years - a day after plunging more than 12 per cent.
- NZPA
