KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket edged back a couple of points in early trading today from yesterday's record closing high.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 2.47 points from yesterday's close at 4220.76 at 10.15am. Buoyed by ongoing merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, the index rose to a session high of 4235.27 yesterday.
The index has risen about 14 per cent in the past 12 months, and is up about 4 per cent since the start of the year.
Top stocks were mixed with market leader Telecom steady on 481, Fletcher Building down 3c to 1165 and Contact Energy up 1c on 877.
Sky TV, under pressure since the launch of digital free TV, was down 2c to 602.
NZX was down 9c to 981, TrustPower down 4c to 806 and The Warehouse down 3c to 685.
CanWest MediaWorks, the owner of television stations TV3 and C4 along with a stable of radio stations, rose another 1c to 240 following its 5c gain yesterday in the wake of the 243c per share offer from Australian private equity company Ironbridge.
NZ Windfarms was unchanged on 195 after calling a trading halt pending an announcement on a capital raising signalled a fortnight ago.
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On Wall Street, US stocks closed flat as investors locked in profits after five straight sessions of gains in blue chips, a day before the Federal Reserve's meeting on interest-rate policy.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 3.90 points to end unofficially at 13,309.07. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 1.76 points on 1507.72 and the Nasdaq Composite Index edged up just 0.80 of a point to close unofficially 2571.75.
- NZPA
