KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket had a mixed end to the week, taking a small step forward on very light volume.
The NZSX-50 index, in negative territory earlier in the day, rose 9 points to 4305.62. Turnover totalled $95.9 million, with falls outnumbering rises 54 to 59.
Top stock Telecom fell 6c to 444, while No 2 stock Fletcher Building jumped 23c to 1278, and third-ranked Contact Energy rose 22c to 957 in the wake of the Government's energy strategy released yesterday.
"The real concentration today has been on the energy sector, and the impact of yesterday's announcement around the potential of the government policy not to have any further thermal," said Nigel Scott of ABN Amro Craigs.
"There has been what looks like a potential transfer from the gas players to the renewable players."
Contact Energy produces half its electricity with gas and the other half from hydro and geothermal power plants.
TrustPower was flat at 915, after hitting a record high 930 during yesterday's session. NZ Windfarms was up 9c, or 7 per cent, at 135, and 19.9 per cent shareholder Vector was up 2c at 242.
Also gaining a potential lift from the Government's energy policy was Fisher & Paykel Appliances, up 5c at 370. The whiteware manufacturer is likely to benefit from the replacement of old, energy wasting fridges.
F&P Healthcare was up a cent at 330, and Sky TV lost 5c to 570.
Among in-play stocks, The Warehouse was up 5c at 548, casino company Sky City was flat at 528, and Auckland Airport rose 3c to 310.
The reaction to renewed New Zealand dollar strength was muted compared with its jump a few months ago, possibly because exporters had hedged their currency needs when the kiwi dollar fell to around US67c in August. It has since returned above US77c.
Freightways was up 8c at 391, Mainfreight rose 5c to 705, Port of Tauranga gained 5c to 710, Pumpkin Patch rose 2c to 313, and Tourism Holdings was up 4c at 231.
On the slide were Michael Hill, down another 14c to 1126 following disappointing quarterly sales figures yesterday, and technology company Rakon, 12c lower at 480 in reaction to the higher currency.
Cavalier was down 5c at 320 as the Commerce Commission considers its joint venture agreement with fellow carpet company, Norman Ellison.
Infratil fell 4c to 305, fish exporter Sanford fell 3c to 427, Steel & Tube lost 3c to 441, and Hallenstein Glasson was down 2c at 453.
ANZ lost 20c to 3655, Westpac fell 25c to 3460, AMP shed 30c to 1249, and Lion Nathan lost 4c to 1090.
Australia's benchmark ASX/S&P 200 index fell from yesterday's record high, down 0.6 per cent at 6729, and Japan's Nikkei slid 0.7 per cent.
Stocks fell on Wall Street, led by a drop of more than 1 per cent in the Nasdaq as a brokerage comment on Chinese internet company Baidu.com Inc unnerved investors after record highs earlier in the day.
Earlier, a higher profit outlook from Wal-Mart Stores Inc had helped the Dow and S&P reach all-time highs.
- NZPA
