KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket reversed early gains today, as a small fall for Telecom set the tone for other stocks in a listless session.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 0.3 per cent, or 9.3 points, at 3586.6, on moderate turnover totalling $132 million.
"It started off slightly better and
just drifted off, and never really recovered," said Stephen Wright of ASB Securities.
"Australia started very firm and then drifted down, but it has picked up."
Market leader Telecom was down 3c at 407, second-ranked Fletcher Building was down 8c at 953, and Contact Energy fell 2c to 755.
Auckland Airport rose 8c to 283 despite reporting a 3.9 per cent fall in first half net profit, thanks to $5.8 million of costs related to takeover proposals.
The company, which said it was not yet ready to comment on speculation it will revise its advice against Canadian Pension Plan's partial bid, said it would incur similar costs in the second half.
Among companies to suffer as the New Zealand dollar hovered around US80c were Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, down 10c at 266, F&P Appliances down 4c at 258, and Rakon, down 4c at 285.
Despite its exposure to the currency, children's clothing retailer Pumpkin Patch recovered 5c to 188 after being hammered 11c to its lowest level since August 2004 yesterday, on the back of a disappointing January half result.
PGG Wrightson lost another 8c to 196, after initially rising 10c on its first half result earlier this week.
Freightways lost 18c to 330, Port of Tauranga was down 3c at 635, Vector fell 2c to 198, Sky City was down 8c at 392, and NZX fell 18c to 750.
NZ Refining rose a cent to 760 despite a 17 per cent fall in first half profit, mainly due to maintenance shutdowns and slightly lower margins. Supporting the share price was news of an unchanged dividend.
Mainfreight was up 13c to 593, NZ Oil and Gas rose a cent to 118, The Warehouse gained 5c to 605, Nuplex gained 5c to 575, and Tower was up 3c at 208.
Among dual-listed stocks, Telstra rose 7c to 552 after today's 13 per cent rise in interim profit, while ANZ was off 82c at 2500, Westpac lost 43c to 2612, and AMP was down 5c at 895.
Australia's benchmark index was up 1 per cent at 5548, and Japan's Nikkei share average jumped 3 per cent.
Earlier in the US, stocks ended higher, helped by an advance in technology shares following unexpectedly strong profits from computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co.
Expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep cutting interest rates also buoyed sentiment, with both the Dow and the Nasdaq snapping a three-day losing streak.
- NZPA