Fletcher Energy forges on in soft trade

Telecom lost some of Tuesday's gains, leaving the market softer after a lacklustre session yesterday.

"It's been pretty dull. There was nothing marked as far as news or price movements at all," said Chris Jardine at Craig and Co.

"I think Telecom is going to bounce around between 740 and 760 for the moment. It just seems to be range trading at the moment. There has certainly not been much in the way of interest there."

Telecom, which gained 19c on Tuesday after announcing a contract with Commonwealth Bank of Australia, fell 9c to 755, $15.8 million worth of shares changing hands.

Telstra's head shares and instalment receipts both lost 25c to 910 and 530 respectively.

Fletcher Energy added 9c to 765 after announcing that it planned to buy at least a 33.7 per cent stake in Brisbane-based listed oil and gas explorer Petroz for about $80 million.

"It certainly looked a good deal from Fletcher's point of view but price-wise there was not a lot of reaction," said Mr Jardine. Brierley gave up a bit of ground - 1c to 39 - after a spurt [of 6c over the last couple of days]" as profit-taking emerged.

Earlier this week, BIL said it had lifted its stake in Singapore food and beverage group Fraser and Neave to 6.9 per cent.

The benchmark NZSE-40 capital index slipped 7.64 points, or 0.36 of a per cent, to 2131.89 on moderate turnover of $79.7 million, with risers beating out decliners by 56 to 43 among the 159 stocks traded.

Carter Holt Harvey slipped 2c to 185, Lion Nathan 10c to 480, and Air New Zealand fell back, its A ordinaries 3c lower at 183, and its B shares down 5c at 233.

Among gainers, Fisher and Paykel rose 20c to 715, Tranz Rail 5c to 395, The Warehouse 5c to 575 and AMP 20c to $22.25.

Sky TV grew 7c to 407. Restaurant Brands, owner of Pizza Hut, Eagle Boys and KFC, eased 1c to 111 despite posting a 5.4 per cent improvement in first-half profit.

Among the small companies Auckland-based telecommunications company GDC Communications jumped 10c to 350 after posting a 27.8 per cent half-year profit rise. GDC has had a strong run since listing at 185.

Frucor notched up another record, gaining 5c to 203.

- NZPA