The New Zealand sharemarket opened strongly after United States and European stocks surged in a broad relief rally and government debt prices fell.
The global moves came after the US government rescued investment company Citigroup, reassuring investors who feared its collapse could push the financial system into theabyss.
Around 10.15am today the benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 58.87 points, or 2.29 per cent, to 2634.35, after easing 2.6 points yesterday.
Among leading stocks today, Telecom was up 6c to 226 early, Contact Energy put on 29c to 658 and Fletcher Building added 16c to 570.
The largest gains included The Warehouse up 18c to 371, Port of Tauranga up 15c to 580, Mainfreight up 10c to 420, Sky TV also up 10c, to 325, and Pike River Coal up 8c to 101.
Stocks adding 7c early included Fisher & Paykel Appliances, to 131, F&P Healthcare to 305, and Tower to 150.
Rising 5c early were Auckland Airport to 171, Cavalier Corp to 215, Freightways to 280, NZ Oil & Gas to 126, and Sky City to 302, while Rakon was up 6c to 110.
The Dow Jones industrial average climbed unofficially 4.9 per cent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 6.5 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite index surged 6.3 per cent.
Earlier, Britain's top share index, the FTSE 100 index posted its biggest-ever one-day percentage rise, surging 9.8 per cent, led by rallies in commodities and banks, and helped by a British tax give-away pre-budget report.
