The New Zealand sharemarket rose in early trading after stocks in the United States ended last week with their best gains in nearly four weeks.Comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke about the United States economy and the Fed's readiness to a
The New Zealand sharemarket rose in early trading after stocks in the United States ended last week with their best gains in nearly four weeks.
Comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke about the United States economy and the Fed's readiness to act initially caused skittishness, but the US market improved as investors took a more positive view of Mr Bernanke's comments about the economy and the Fed's readiness to act.
Mr Bernanke told central bankers at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the recovery had weakened more than expected but the US central bank was ready to take further steps if needed to spur the recovery.
The Fed chairman downplayed concerns that the economy might slip back into recession, reassuring investors spooked by his recent comments the US economy faced "unusual uncertainty".
Around 10.20am today the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 19.04 points to 3026.48, having lost 10.8 points on Friday.
Fisher&Paykel Healthcare lifted 7c to 288, Nuplex gained 5c to 315, Fletcher Building was up 4c to 756, and Hallenstein Glasson gained 3c to 385.
Sky TV added 10c to 510 but only on small volume. Contact Energy was up 2c to 569 and Telecom gained 1c to 201.
In the US, the Dow Jones industrial average ended Friday (local time) up 1.7 percent to 10,150.65, the Standard&Poor's 500 Index jumped 1.7 percent to 1064.59, and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.7 percent to 2153.63.
Despite that, the Dow and S&P 500 racked up their third week of declines in a row. For the week, the Dow was down 0.6 percent, the S&P lost 0.7 percent, while the Nasdaq gave up 1.2 percent.
