NZ shares up 2% as energy stocks rally on expert report; A2, Fisher & Paykel Health gain

The S&P/NZX50 Index gained 176.94 points, or 2 percent, to 9,225.57. Within the index, 38 stocks rose, 10 were unchanged and two fell. Turnover was  $203.2 million.

Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners, said the index's gains were being pushed by large stocks. The best performer today was A2 Milk Co, up 4.9 percent to $12.10. Lister said an investor presentation by the firm in Hong Kong "seems to have been well received".

"Last week was the worst week the New Zealand market had had in several months, so we were due for a bit of a bounce and that seems to have come today," Lister said. "We had positive leads from offshore, the US market had a positive line of trading and so did Europe so it's more of a reaction to that."

New Zealand outperformed mixed Asian markets this afternoon. At 5:15pm New Zealand time, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.6 percent, Japan's Nikkei 400 had risen 0.6 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.1 percent.