KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket reversed early losses with a modest two-point gain today, making up a little ground after yesterday's worst finish so far this year.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed at 3574.84, having been down 18 points at one stage. The index lost 1 per cent yesterday.
Turnover totalled just $70.7 million, and most market moves were on light volume.
"There was a bit more buying interest, mainly in the leading stocks," said Bryon Burke of ABN Amro Craigs.
"Overall, the tone was improving towards the end of the day and not everyone was doom and gloom, unlike most other days."
Top stock Telecom recovered from an early decline to close up 5c at 400. Yesterday, it hit a fresh 14-1/2 year low of 390 after reporting a 25 per cent drop in second-quarter profit on Friday.
SkyCity fell 9c to 408 after announcing it intended to write down the value of its cinema exhibition business by an expected $60 million.
"I guess it's enough to put buyers off, and if anything the price drifted down, rather than any aggressive selling," Mr Burke said.
Fletcher Building was down 4c at 915, above yesterday's 15-month low of 912.
Contact Energy rose 4c to 769, Auckland Airport was up 3c at 260, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained a cent to 279, and F&P Appliances was down 2c at 285.
Freightways recovered from early falls to close flat at 315, after reporting an interim profit up just 2 per cent yesterday.
Tower fell 5c to 205, having told shareholders at today's annual meeting that it was on track to modestly improve this year on last year's $34.6m net profit.
Air New Zealand jumped 8c to 181, The Warehouse was up 6c at 578, PGG Wrightson rose 4c to 206, Mainfreight was up 15c at 594, and Hellaby was up 6c at 217.
TrustPower slid 12c to 750, Steel & Tube was down 15c at 364, Infratil lost 8c to 236, and Rakon was down 4c at 325.
Dual-listed stocks were mixed, with ANZ down 69c at 2850, Westpac up 10c at 2760, AMP up 5c at 920, and Lion Nathan off 19c at 1037.
Australia's benchmark index was up 1.4 per cent at 5616, while Japan's Nikkei share average rose 0.3 per cent.
Earlier on Wall Street, US stocks rebounded from last week's losses as bargain-hunting and takeover talk sparked gains in the technology sector and a jump in oil prices lifted energy shares.
- NZPA
