(RTTNews) - The New Zealand share market opened sharply higher on Friday, following a positive lead from Wall Street, where U.S. stocks closed steeply higher overnight on encouraging economic data.

The benchmark NZX 50 index surged 31.27 points or 0.99% to 3,175.77 shortly after the market opened on Friday morning. Meanwhile, the broader NZX All Capital index jumped 32.11 points or 1.01% to be at 3,196.56.

On Thursday, New Zealand’s market moved lower, with traders reacting negatively to word from the government that the nation’s unemployment rate rose a half percent to 6.5 percent in the September quarter.

The benchmark NZX-50 index declined 22.2 points or 0.7 percent to 3,144.5 on Thursday. Trading volume was 36.2 million shares as reported by the NZ Exchange, carrying a total value of NZ$63.2 million. Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners 45 to 25 with 36 unchanged.

Overseas, U.S. stocks saw a significant rally on Thursday, as trader sentiment picked up this morning following some upbeat figures on the labor market and quarterly productivity. The major averages all posted standout gains after ending each of the two previous sessions mixed, with the Dow climbing back above the 10,000 level.

Before the start of trading, the Labor Department released its report on initial jobless claims for the week ended October 31st, showing that first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by more than economists had been anticipating.

Jobless claims fell to 512,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 532,000. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to edge down to 522,000 from the 530,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the bigger than expected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since claims came in at 488,000 in early January, the last time claims were below 500,000.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed that labor productivity increased by much more than expected in the third quarter, with the report also showing a bigger than expected decrease in labor costs.

Retail sales data for the month of October was also on traders’ radar, including a widely mixed batch of results from Saks (SKS), JC Penney (JCP), Target (TGT), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), Aeropostale (ARO) and Gap (GPS).

On the earnings front, Cisco Systems (CSCO) reported first quarter adjusted net income of $0.36 per share compared to $0.42 per share a year ago, while sales for the quarter fell 12.7 percent to $9.0 billion. Analysts expected the company to earn $0.31 per share on sales of $8.74 billion.

The major U.S. averages remained firmly positive going into the close, ending the session just off their best levels of the day. The Dow closed up by 203.82 points or 2.1 percent at 10,005.96, the Nasdaq gained 49.80 points or 2.4 percent to end at 2,105.32 and the S&P 500 advanced by 20.13 points or 1.9 percent to 1,066.63.

Crude oil fell for the first time in four sessions on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday amid demand worries. Traders expressed caution ahead of tomorrow’s big jobs report.

Light sweet crude oil for December delivery finished at $79.62 per barrel, down 78 cents on the session. Prices fell as low as $79.34, compared to a daily high of $80.62.

The Labor Department’s big monthly jobs report is due at 8:30 am ET Friday. A decline in non-farm payrolls of 175,000 is expected, compared to a drop of 263,000 a month earlier. The unemployment rate is expected to edge up to 9.9%.

On the currency front, the New Zealand dollar was buying US72.17c by 8am on Friday, compared to US71.89c at 5pm on Thursday. The kiwi had bounced between US71.60c and US72.40c during the night.

In the early trading on the New Zealand stock market on Friday, market leader Telecom surged 2.42%, while second ranked Contact Energy advanced 1.00% and Fletcher Building, the third best stock, collected 1.40%.

In the retail sector, Hallenstein Glasson added 1.27% and Warehouse advanced 0.45%, as Pumpkin Patch and jewelry retailer Michael Hill International remained unchanged. Among energy stocks, TrustPower remained unchanged, as Vector gained 0.52% in the early trading.

Among the dual listed issues, AMP added 0.68%, Australia and NZ Banking Corp collected 1.05%, Telstra advanced 0.50% and Westpac Bank surged 2.14%, as APN News & Media and Lion Nathan remained unchanged in the early trading on Friday morning.

Among other notable stocks, Infratil gained 0.63%, Methven collected 0.60%, Nuplex jumped 4.58%, Sky City added 0.29%, Sky Network Television climbed 0.83% and Steel & Tube Holdings surged 2.27%, as Mainfreight remained unchanged. Meanwhile, Fisher & Paykel Appliances jumped 3.08% and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare dipped 0.31%.

The major losers among the shares listed under the NZX 50 index on Friday morning included– ING Medical Properties Trust by 0.82%, Kiwi Income Property Trust by 0.95%, New Zealand Oil & Gas by 0.59%, Property for Industry by 0.83%, Pike River Coal by 0.91% and Sanford by 0.80%.

The major gainers included– Auckland International Airport by 0.51%, AMP NZ Office Trust by 1.28%, Cavalier by 0.81%, Goodman Property Trust by 0.99%, NZX Limited by 1.27%, PGG Wrightson by 1.64%, Port of Tauranga by 0.71%, Rakon by 1.72%, Skellerup Holding by 1.92% and Tower by 0.60%.

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Posted in Categories: Australia, New Zealand, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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