KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand share market opened firmly after the Waitangi Day long weekend but could not maintain momentum when leading stock Telecom gave up gains.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 6.935 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 2766.56, even though stocks in the United States had a
two-day rally at the end of last week.
Telecom gained 9c early to 279, but couldn't hold that level and fell back to close down 1c at 269.
Telecom is still trading in good volume and attention is turning to its second quarter result due on Friday. More than 15 million Telecom shares traded today.
Fletcher Building was unchanged at 552 after earlier being up 7c to 559 ahead of its interim result on Thursday.
Contact Energy was down 10c at 668 after releasing an investor presentation today.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 3.3 per cent early, and it closed up 8c at 337 to be one of the better performers on the day.
Adrian Vance at Hamilton, Hindin, Greene said the NZ dollar's recent weakness had benefited export stocks like F&P Healthcare.
"It hasn't been a huge day. The market started off relatively well on the back of offshore markets but it has given some of that back," Mr Vance said.
NZ Farming Systems Uruguay rose 9c to 69 but it was on very light volume.
Westpac rose 60c to 2090 and Goodman Fielder rose 4c to 180. NZ Refining rose 15c to 725 and Hallenstein Glasson rose 2c to 218.
Air NZ rose a cent to 92 and Nuplex rose 3c to 258.
The Warehouse fell 10c to 350 and SkyTV eased 10c to 420. Tower fell 4c to 171.
Tourism Holdings fell 3c to 64 and Fisher & Paykel Appliances eased 4c to 115. Pike River Coal eased a cent to 99 and Rakon eased 4c to 95.
In the US, stocks rallied for a second day on Friday (local time) on hopes Washington's stimulus package and a bank rescue plan will bolster the ailing economy, even as data showed the biggest one-month job losses in 34 years.
A nearly 12 per cent surge in bank shares led Wall Street higher. Investors anticipate the plan will shore up banks' balance sheets and spur lending.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 2.7 per cent to 8280.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 2.7 per cent to 868.60, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.9 per cent at 1591.71.
Gains of the last two days of the week pushed the Nasdaq into positive territory for the year-to-date for the first time since early January.
For the week, the S&P 500 was up 5.2 per cent, the Dow rose 3.5 per cent and the Nasdaq saw its best week since early December, up 7.8 per cent.
- NZPA