KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket recovered from a gently negative opening, helped by Fletcher Building reaffirming profit guidance.
The NZSX-50 index closed up 18.02 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 4107.15, on turnover totalling a light $85.8 million.
The market fell 1.1 per cent yesterday.
"It was led higher pretty much on the back of the heavyweights," said Forsyth Barr's David Price.
Among the top three stocks, Telecom rose 6c to $4.27, Fletcher Building was up 12c at $11.30, and Contact Energy fell 2c to $8.96.
Fletcher Building said earnings for the first four months were ahead of last year, despite softness in some sectors.
"There's been a lot of talk of weakness in a lot of different housing markets, but for them to reaffirm guidance ... in a very difficult environment is a very good result," Price said.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 3c at $3.24, F&P Appliances rose 6c to $3.40, Auckland Airport was flat at $3.07, SkyCity was up 5c at $5.47, and Sky TV fell 6c to $5.76.
Air New Zealand, which has taken a battering lately due to high fuel prices and lost 5c on Monday as Pacific Blue opened up its domestic service, was unchanged at $2.
Property investor Kiwi Income Property Trust rose 2c to $1.39 after posting a nearly 80 per cent rise in first-half profit, its first result under new accounting rules.
Of the handful of top-50 stocks to decline, The Warehouse lost 4c to $5.22, Steel & Tube was down 3c at $4.05, Rakon lost 5c to $5.10, and ING Property was down 2c at $1.09.
Among dual-listed stocks, ANZ jumped 70c to $34.20, Westpac was up 29c at $34.30, AMP fell 15c to $11.65, and Lion Nathan was up 16c at $10.71.
- NZPA
