KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket ended virtually flat today, as recoveries in Fletcher Building and solid reporting stocks balanced broader market weakness.
The NZSX-50 index closed up 3.1 points at 3582, on turnover of $99.2 million.
"The market put in a pretty reasonable performance today in the face of offshore weakness - particularly the Asian markets are under quite a bit of pressure today, mainly the financial stocks," said Hamilton Hindin Greene partner Grant Williamson.
"Recently, some better than expected results have added a wee bit of support to our market."
Guinness Peat Group shares rose 1c to 167, having gained 17 per cent yesterday after reporting a 258 per cent rise in net profit.
Resins maker Nuplex shares rose 6c to 616, adding to yesterday's 5 per cent gain when it reported a 60 per cent rise in half year net profit.
"These companies, in quite difficult conditions, are financially performing extremely well," Mr Williamson said.
Among today's results, Air New Zealand shed 9c to 167 despite hiking its dividend by two thirds to 5cps and lifting half year net profit by 58 per cent to $115 million. The airline said it was on track to improve normalised earnings for the full year, but investors were concerned about a challenging future.
Market leader Telecom, down near 15-year lows, reversed early gains to close down 4c at 387 after Communications Minister David Cunliffe rejected the company's amended separation package.
"Creating more uncertainty for Telecom really, and it's pretty much back to the drawing board for them to come up with another proposal that's going to suit the Government," Mr Williamson said.
Fletcher Building bounced 17c to 959, Contact Energy was up 15c at 789, and Sky City was up 6c at 396.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare lost a cent to 264, F&P Appliances was down 3c at 258, Vector fell 3c to 186, and Sky TV was down 4c at 502.
Auckland Airport rose a cent to 248 as the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board bid gathered momentum, following directors' decision to change their recommendation on the offer.
NZ Oil and Gas was up a cent at 131, Sanford rose 9c to 384, Ebos rose 5c to 525, and NZ Refining was up 7c at 752.
The Warehouse shed 20c, or 3 per cent, to 595 after Woolworths and Foodstuffs agreed yesterday to a moratorium not to bid for the company before May 1.
Mainfreight fell 5c to 655, Infratil was down 4c at 235, NZX fell 11c to 720, Pumpkin Patch lost 2c to 188, and Hellaby Holdings fell 6c to 217.
ANZ fell 60c to 2560, Westpac lost 50c to 2700 and AMP was down 15c at 925, while Lion Nathan gained 12c to 1100.
Australia's benchmark index was down 1.6 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei share average fell 2.2 per cent.
Earlier on Wall Street, stocks dropped 0.9 per cent on renewed recession fears and worries about bank collapses.
- NZPA
