NZ stocks rise as Fletcher Building falls

Fletcher Building shares closed down but recovered from lows after the market's largest listing signalled a hostile takeover bid of Australian company Crane Group.

The fall in Fletcher Building was countered by a rise in Telecom and a profit upgrade from Skellerup Holdings was also well received.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 8.965 points, or 0.273 per cent, at 3297.923, after yesterday slipping 2.3 points.

Fletcher Building closed down 10c at 775 but traded as low as 759 after signalling a bid for 100 per cent of Crane Group which values the target at A$740 million ($982 million).

"People looked at the multiple and the cost," said David Price at Forsyth Barr. "But the stock has bounced from lows."

Australia was an attractive market to expand in and Fletchers saw value in what they could add to a business that had not been performing well, he said.

Telecom rose 4c to 216 and Contact Energy rose 3c to 620.

Auckland Airport rose 1c to 211 on a day it got media coverage at the opening of an upgraded retail area at the airport.

Skellerup, which is taking Pike River Coal's spot in the NZX-50 index, ended up 1c at 319 after the company said it expects net profit after tax for the 2011 year to be in the range of $18.5 million to $19.5m. This is up from the $16m to $17m previously advised.

Shares in New Zealand Refining Co are at eight-month highs as petrol prices hover around $2 a litre. The stock ending up 10c at 401.

Ebos Group lifted 5c to 738, SkyCity rose 1c to 319 and Ryman Healthcare rose 4c to 229.

Goodman Property Trust rose 2c to 95 and Kiwi Income Property Trust rose 1c to 99..

Methven, which today went ex-dividend, dropped 2c to 165, Mainfreight was unchanged at 779 after earlier being down to 762.

Hellaby Holdings slipped 2c to 202. NZOG, which is a major shareholder in Pike River Coal, fell 3c to 82.

Sanford fell 10c to 450 and The Warehouse fell 11c to 361. Tourism Holdings fell 2c to 77.

In the United States, the Dow Jones industrial average rose but the Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq Composite cut their gains and ended mostly flat in a late-day sell-off, as yet another cautious statement from the Federal Reserve on the economy offset strong November retail sales.

The Fed, in a policy statement after its last scheduled meeting of the year, said the economic recovery was still too slow to bring down unemployment and reaffirmed its commitment to purchase US$600 ($798) billion in bonds to stimulate growth and create jobs, as had been expected.

Sales at US retailers rose 0.8 per cent in November, up for a fifth straight month and pointing to a firm rebound in consumer spending, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of the US economy.

The Dow gained 0.42 per cent to 11,476.62, the S&P 500 edged up 0.1 per cent to 1241.59, and the Nasdaq added 0.11 per cent to 2627.72.

- NZPA