KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket ended with a nearly 1 per cent gain, in stark contrast with the start of the week and losses across the Tasman.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index, which yesterday gained 1 per cent, closed up 29.5 points, or 0.96 per cent, at 3120.9. Turnover totalled a light
$96.1 million.
The index hit a three-year low of 3001 on Wednesday morning before beginning its recovery.
"Buying's dissipated, but we haven't had the continued people taking money out of the market as we've had leading up to the last few days," said ABN Amro Craigs senior dealer Bryon Burke.
"Our dollar is weaker so it's not as attractive selling the stocks down here for overseas investors."
The top-50 index hit a session low of 3091 this morning before climbing higher.
Top stock Telecom was up 3c at 346, Contact Energy rose 14c to 762, and Fletcher Building gained 8c to 646.
Other top-10 stocks held their ground, with Fisher & Paykel Healthcare up a cent at 226, F&P Appliances a cent higher at 195, Sky City flat at 296, Infratil up 2c at 194 and Sky TV up 5c at 428.
Rakon disappointed with a 10c fall to 260, after strong gains yesterday when it announced a joint venture in China.
Steel & Tube was up 12c at 265, Ebos Group rose 10c to 440, Port of Tauranga was up 10c at 640, and PGG Wrightson rose 5c to 246.
Air New Zealand gained 3c to 114 after Qantas Airways announced it would cut 4 per cent of its workforce and scrap its growth plan for the coming year to help offset rising fuel prices.
Among the few stocks to decline on the top-50, Pumpkin Patch was down a cent at 142, Pike River Coal lost 8c to 205, its 31-per cent owner NZ Oil & Gas was down 4c at 162, and Hallenstein Glasson lost 2c to 268.
The Warehouse was down 3c at 384.
ANZ fell 11c to 2314, Westpac rose 45c to 2600, AMP was up 24c at 850, and Lion Nathan gained 16c to 1066.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 1.2 per cent at 4843, while Japan's Nikkei share average was down 0.5 per cent.
Earlier on Wall Street, US stocks soared on a sharp drop in oil and several unexpectedly strong earnings reports, but there were concerns the rally may not hold into Friday given disappointing results from Google, Microsoft and Merrill Lynch after the bell.
- NZPA