KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket gave up its early gains as buyers ran out of stamina and the effect of a near 2-per cent rise in US equities faded.
Yesterday, the index gained some support from the Reserve Bank's signal that interest rates could fall by the end of the year, and a solid decline from the New Zealand dollar as a result.
Today, the benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 7.9 points at 3548.08, around 30 points below the session high. Turnover totalled $101.2 million.
"I think it's general to the market rather than specific to any stock - just buyer fatigue," said Don Lewthwaite of First NZ Capital.
"There's still a lot of unknowns about the short-term direction of corporate earnings, interest rates, exchange rates, so everything's a bit up in the air still - investors are still very wary."
Top stock Telecom set the tone, falling 5c to 386, while No 2 Contact Energy lost 6c to 885 and third-ranked Fletcher Building was down 15c to 755.
Blue chip casino operator Sky City rose 2c to 368, unaffected by news late in the day that the planned sale of its cinema business had fallen through at the last minute. The unnamed potential buyer had been unable to arrange suitable finance, Sky City said.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 6c at 242, F&P Appliances was flat at 230, Sky TV rose 10c to 475, Auckland International Airport was flat at 212 and Infratil lost a cent to 219.
Ryman Healthcare fell 5c to 175, Pumpkin Patch lost 9c to 162, The Warehouse fell 3c to 533, Hallenstein Glasson lost 7c to 314, and Mainfreight was down 5c at 735.
Pike River Coal jumped 7c, or 4 per cent, to a record high 201 on news it would be included in the top-50 index from July 1, at the expense of Hellaby Holdings which shed 7c, also 4 per cent, to 158.
Pike River parent NZ Oil and Gas was down a cent at 157.
Air New Zealand gained a cent to 117 after announcing further fare rises and some route changes.
Guinness Peat Group rose a cent to 159, Rakon was up 10c at 336, Sanford rose 12c to 512, PGG Wrightson gained 8c to 250, NZX gained 10c to 840, and Freightways was up 6c at 335.
Among dual-listed stocks, ANZ soared 76c to 2600, Westpac fell 5c to 2795, and AMP gained 17c to 950.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 0.9 per cent at 5583, and Japan's Nikkei share average was up 1.2 per cent.
Earlier, US stocks rose the most in more than a month after Wal-Mart and other retailers posted stronger-than-expected May sales and data showed a surprising fall in weekly jobless claims, spurring optimism about the economy's health.
- NZPA
