The sharemarket finished higher today after a shaky start but brokers said trading was thin and the focus was still on offshore markets in the absence of local corporate news.
The benchmark NZSX-50 closed up 8.16 points at 4088.13 after opening down 9.45 points. Turnover was worth $108million.
Rises outnumbered falls by 59 to 46 among the 142 stocks traded.
A 10c a share decline in Contact Energy helped drag the market down in early trading but by the close the stock was only down 6c at 899.
TrustPower was a star performer, rising 32c to 850 and Vector was up 7c at 285.
Grant Williamson, partner at Hamilton Hindin Greene, said energy stocks were being seen as a safe haven at the moment.
"The market is mixed but it showed some improvement throughout the day," he said.
Telecom played a role in the turnaround as it was down 6c in early trading but recovered to close up 5c at 483.
"The market just seems a bit directionless today. It is not really taking its lead from anything in particular," Mr Williamson said.
He said investors were waiting for international markets to kick off overnight and there had not been a lot of domestic corporate news today.
The New Zealand dollar has strengthened in early trading and that had hit selected export stocks.
But Fletcher Building was up 4c at 1090 on a day when new data about the strength in housing prices featured on news bulletins.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 6c at 389 but the appliances stock was up 2c at 375.
The Warehouse was down 8c at 680 as investors wait for the Commerce Commission to say what it thinks of supermarket owners upping their stake in the predominantly general merchandise seller.
Lion Nathan was up 17c at 997 and Port of Tauranga was up 5c at 605. Michael Hill was up 3 at 868. Sanford was unchanged at 511.
Guinness Peat Group was down 3c at 233. Hellaby was down 3c at 409.
Mainfreight was up 5c at 730. Cavalier was down 2c at 343.
