The New Zealand and Australian share market have jumped in trading following a strong close on Wall Street. The NZX50 index was up 2.4% and the S&P/ASX200 was up by 1.79%.
The New Zealand stock exchange has jumped in trading following a strong close on Wall Street.
The NZX50 index was up 68 points, or 2.4%, to 2958 on turnover of $28 million.
At 12.25pm on Tuesday, Telecom was unchanged at $2.50. Contact Energy was up 20 cents to $7.50 and Fletcher Building was up 24c to $6.45
Fisher & Paykel Appliances was up 5c to $1.37 and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 10c to $3.25
Steel & Tube was up 18 cents to $3 after a sharp decline as investors reacted to OneSteel withdrawing a takeover offer of its $4 per share.
New Zealand Oil & Gas was up 10c to $1.18.
ANZ was up 80c to $20.40 and Westpac was up 61c to $26 as the owner of the BNZ, National Australia Bank, saw a drop in full year profits.
At 12.25pm, the New Zealand dollar was trading at US62.04 cents, 88.35 Australian cents, 36.18 pence, 63.18 yen and 0.4645 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 61.47.
Australian market higher
The Australian share market opened almost 2% higher, following a strong lead from Wall Street.
At 1015 AEDT, the S&P/ASX200 was up 74.3 points, or 1.79%, at 4,216.6, while the All Ordinaries added 76 points, or 1.85%, to 4,174.7.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index futures contract was 82 points higher at 4,240, on a volume of 7,880 contracts.
Wall Street soars
US stocks soared on Monday in a late rally buoyed by signs of easing credit and the growing likelihood of a second stimulus package in the United States.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 413.21 points, or 4.67%, to 9,265.43.
Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 44.85 points, or 4.77%, to 985.40. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 58.74 points, or 3.43%, at 1,770.03.
However, trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange was the lowest since 26 September. About 1.23 billion shares changed hands On the NYSE - far below last year's estimated daily average of roughly 1.90 billion.
About 2.06 billion shares were traded on the Nasdaq - also below last year's daily average of 2.17 billion.
European stocks
European stocks also rose. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended up 3.8% at 928.29 points.
The index gained 4.2% on Friday, but is down more than 38% to date this year in a credit crisis that has brought the global economy to the brink of recession.
In Britain, the FTSE 100 index rose 5.4%, Germany's DAX rose 1.1% and France's CAC added 3.6%.
