KEY POINTS:
Top stocks pushed the sharemarket into a small gain today after a weaker start, although it fell short of gains on markets around the region.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index, which rose an impressive 2.5 per cent yesterday, closed up 0.2 per cent or 7.6 points at 3609.4.
Turnover was a massive $439.3 million, $311.5 million of it in AMP Office Trust as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's Haumi Company Ltd closed the deal for a 24.9 per cent stake.
Telecom recovered from earlier weakness to close flat at 412, Fletcher Building rose 10c to 945, and Contact Energy was up 5c at 755.
"Our market, after a start where it just drifted lower, then clawed its way back," said Stephen Wright of ASB Securities.
Auckland International Airport, reported to be going to review its advice that shareholders reject a partial offer from a Canadian pension fund, was down a cent at 275.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 5c to 285, and F&P Appliances lost a cent to 267 having rallied 11c yesterday on a strong sales report.
Sky Casino lost 8c to 402, Sky TV was unchanged at 495, and Vector was steady at 202.
Infratil, which said after the market closed that nine-month profit fell to $4.1m from $62.4m a year earlier, was up 6c at 250.
PGG Wrightson rose 10c to 210 after announcing a 68 per cent rise in first half net profit to $34.6m, and an increased dividend.
Carpet maker Cavalier jumped 17c to 277, and Steel & Tube rose 9c to 345, both recovering from sharp sell-downs in recent weeks.
The Warehouse was up 7c at 598, Air New Zealand was up 3c at 186, Hallenstein Glasson rose 10c to 400, Port of Tauranga gained 10c to 650, NZX lifted 8c to 768, and Nuplex jumped 19c to 576.
Freightways rose 20c to 350, while chip maker Rakon added 3c to yesterday's 17c jump, to 288.
Tourism Holdings failed to impress with a 3.7 per cent rise in first half profit, falling 9c to 185.
Property for Industry was up 4c at 129 after it reported a 6 per cent rise in pre-revaluations profit to $15m. It reported a net profit of $44.5m, but $26.5m came from property revaluations.
Tower lost 5c to 206, Guinness Peat Group was down a cent at 142, ING Property fell a cent to 99, and NZ Farming Systems Uruguay fell a cent to 142.
Australia's benchmark index was up 1 per cent at 5615, while Japan's Nikkei average was also 1 per cent higher.
The local market lacked early direction from Wall Street, which remained shut for the President's Day holiday.
- NZPA
