KEY POINTS:
Investors have flocked back to the New Zealand sharemarket today after last week's panic selling, boosting the top-50 index by nearly 6 per cent following a large rebound in global stocks.
Confidence returned to markets around the world as investors took heart from authorities' pledges to shore
up banks, as governments took steps to stem the global economic crisis.
"Pretty much the market's become a safer place this week than it was last week," ABN Amro senior dealer Bryon Burke said.
"It may not be a one-day wonder, it could be a sigh of relief that the uncertainty's over. The playing field's changed over the weekend."
The benchmark NZX-50 index is up 176 points, or 5.9 per cent, at 2958. Yesterday it lost 22.9 points, or 0.8 per cent, and has fallen for the past seven sessions. The index was above 3230 points early this month.
"I think equities generally got oversold because of the crisis, lower than they should be even given a weakening economy," he said.
It would take some days to work out appropriate valuations given companies' earnings and the weakening economy.
"Definitely the immediate benefactors are the leading stocks, which are the most liquid and have been quite hard hit in recent times because they're the easiest ones to sell in and out of," said Burke.
Among the leading stocks, Telecom is up 15c at $2.63, Contact Energy lifted 46c to $7.51, Fletcher Building is up more than 8 per cent, with a 49c gain to $6.34, and Auckland International Airport was up 15c at $1.82.
The largest gains in percentage terms were by Blis Technologies, up 28.5 per cent to 4.5c, Richina Pacific, up 18.2 per cent to 2.6c, and Rakon, up 14.5 per cent to 2.29.
Dual-listed Australian banks showed the largest increases, with ANZ Banking Group adding $2.55 to $20.85 and Westpac up $2.00 to $26.00.
Australian shares were up 4.5 per cent, adding to yesterday's gain of 5.6 per cent. Asian stocks also surged ahead, with Japan's Nikkei up more than 12 per cent.
Earlier, US stocks posted their largest one-day percentage rise on record. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 11.1 per cent at 9387.61, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index surged 11.6 per cent to 1003.35, and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 11.8 per cent, to 1844.25.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed 10.1 per cent higher at 937.41.
On Monday, the US government agreed to take US$25 billion ($41.7 billion) stakes in a number of large banks, following pledges from industrialised nations - including New Zealand and Australia - to bolster their own banks.
- NZPA
