Wellington - The index of New Zealand's top 50 stocks rose 2.1 per cent Tuesday amid cautious gains in other Asia-Pacific stock markets.

The NZX 50 index looked set for an even better performance after morning trading saw it up 2.8 per cent after rising 3 per cent on Monday.

But the price of the biggest stock, Telecom New Zealand, suffered a reverse in the afternoon, and the index ended the day up 62 points to 2952.

Market sentiment in the region picked up after US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks Monday that a fresh economic stimulus package "seems appropriate." His comments also helped boost Wall Street shares with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping 4.67 per cent overnight. (dpa)