Shares open strongly for third successive day

By NZPA

Friday 25th January 2008

Shares opened stronger for the third successive session today after a positive, but bumpy session on Wall Street.

US blue chips rallied nearly 1% while the technology-laden Nasdaq ended up around 2% after United States government leaders agreed on an economic stimulus plan to avert a recession.

The NZSX-50 index was up 32 points to 3691 at 10.15am. The index has gained 2.3% in the last three sessions.

Stocks were up across the board with market leader Telecom up 4c to $4.07, No 2 Fletcher Building up 14c to $10.24 and Contact Energy up 8c to $7.45.

Infratil, which is conducting a share buyback, was up 9c to $2.69, while Turner's & Growers, which has won its takeover battle for Kerifresh, was up 6c to $2.06.

Turner's Auctions was down 8c to 90c.

Markets remain edgy and volatile. Yesterday, the Dow Jones blue chip index underwent a 500-point swing from 2% down but ended 2.5% up.

Today's session was also choppy. An upbeat outlook from cell-phone chip maker Qualcomm boosted technology shares, while higher oil prices lifted shares of energy companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 108.44 points, or 0.88%, to end unofficially at 12,378.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 13.47 points, or 1.1%, for an unofficial close at 1352.07 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 44.51 points, or 1.92%, to finish unofficially at 2360.92.

Comments from our readers

No comments yet