Sharemarket continues gains

The New Zealand sharemarket continued its rise this morning, building on yesterday's gains and positive signs from overseas markets yesterday.

The benchmark NZX-50 index, which rose 19.924 points yesterday, was up 13.446 points, or 0.429 per cent, to 3144.621 at 10.15am.

Nearly two dozen stocks in the top 50 gained ground, led by AMP, which rose 25c, or 3.42 per cent, to $7.55 and the ANZ Banking Group, which was up 95c, or 3.3 per cent, to $29.70.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances was up 2c to 69, Rakon up 3c to $1.28, The Warehouse up 2c to 414 and AMP Office, up 1c to 85.

Also rising were GPG up 1c to 88, Auckland Airport 2c to $1.87, Pike River Coal 1c to $1.00 and ING Medical Properties Trust 1c to $1.17.

Telecom was unchanged at $2.65, unaffected by the Government this morning releasing a discussion document on reforming the Telecommunications Service Obligations to progress rural access to broadband.

The only stocks in the red this morning were Contact Energy, down 2c to 571, Steel & Tube, down 3c to $3.10, and Hellaby Holdings, losing 4c to $1.66.

In Australia the sharemarket was expected to open higher after takeover optimism drove US stocks higher overnight. Yesterday it finished the day lower as fears about the sustainability of the economic recovery sparked a broad-based sell-off. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 35.9 points, or 0.76 per cent, at 4677.4 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 37.9 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 4676.9 points.

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In the US stocks rallied yesterday, snapping a three-day losing streak, as a spurt of corporate takeovers in the technology and health-care sectors fuelled optimism about share values.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 124.17 points, or 1.28 per cent, to end at 9789.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 18.60 points, or 1.78 per cent, to 1062.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index shot up 39.82 points, or 1.90 per cent, to 2130.74.

- NZPA