NZ sharemarket ends just ahead

The New Zealand sharemarket edged up in quiet trading today as markets elsewhere fell.

Telecom closed unchanged at 199 on confirmation of speculation it is selling the consumer part of its AAPT business in Australia and its stake in an internet service provider there.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 1.607 points, or 0.053 per cent, at 3034.623. Turnover was light and the index had been higher earlier in the session. As the local market closed the Australian market was down 0.6 per cent.

"It is butting the trends in offshore markets, which are pretty much, without exception, down," said Grant Collie, investment adviser at Forsyth Barr. "It is a day of small gains."

The gainers included Freightways, up 7c at 282, Mainfreight, up 10c to 665, and Tower, up 3c to 187. NZX rose 2c to 148 and The Warehouse rose 2c to 353. Port of Tauranga rose 10c to 690 and Infratil rose 1c to 163.

Restaurant Brands rose 1c to 242. APN News rose 5c to 260.

Fletcher Building fell 2c to 760, SkyCity fell 1c to 303 and Nuplex fell 1c to 295. TrustPower fell 3c to 720 on the day of its annual meeting.

Ryman Healthcare gave up some recent gains to close down 1c at 203.

Contact Energy fell 3c to 570 and Air NZ fell 1c to 111.

National Property Trust rose 1c to 54 on a day it gained unit holder approval for a restructuring.

In the United States, stocks sagged in volatile trading after weak outlooks from technology companies and downbeat comments from a Federal Reserve official gave investors little reason to buy.

St Louis Federal Reserve Bank president James Bullard said he was worried about the risks the United States could fall into a Japan-style quagmire of falling prices and investment. That pressured stocks before a late session rebound.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.3 per cent to 10,467.16, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 0.4 per cent to 1101.54, and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.6 per cent to 2251.69.

- NZPA