New Zealand shares rose from a three-month low as investors were lured to beat-up stocks including Auckland International Airport and Fletcher Building, and reports of a possible bailout for Italy stoked optimism.
The NZX 50 Index rose 6.16 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 3218.44.
Within the index, 17 stocks rose, 22 fell and 11 were unchanged.
Turnover was about $50 million, about half the daily average during October.
Auckland Airport rose 1.1 per cent from the lowest in almost two months to $2.305.
Last month, the nation's busiest gateway affirmed its forecast for 2012 earnings growth of at least 7.5 per cent, on rising passenger volumes and bigger returns from its retailing operations.
Fletcher Building edged up 0.2 per cent to $5.87, snapping more than a month of almost continuous declines since the company flagged a 10 per cent drop in first-half profit and no earnings growth in the full year.
Share markets rose across the Asia Pacific region after an Italian newspaper reported that the International Monetary Fund is preparing a 600 billion euro loan for the indebted nation.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed 1.5 per cent in afternoon trading and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 1.7 per cent.
"We've seen a continuation of the positive news overseas - the European exchanges had a reasonably positive Friday," said Chris Timms, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners in Dunedin.
OceanaGold, the operator of the Macraes gold field, rose 5.5 per cent to $3.08 as the price of spot gold rose above $US1,700 an ounce.
Gold explorer Glass Earth Gold fell 6.3 per cent to 60 cents after reporting it lost $C670,000 ($855,246) in the three months ended September 30, taking its loss for the first nine months of its year to $C993,000, down from a loss of $C1.1 million in the same nine months the previous year.
NZN