KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket turned mildly negative today, mirroring moves across the Tasman in a quiet session with few highlights.
Having gained around 0.9 per cent yesterday, the benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 4.4 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 3143.9, on turnover totalling $94.6 million.
"The standout today you'd have to say is Sky City on the back of bargain hunting, back up over the $3 mark," said Grant Williamson of Hamilton, Hindin Greene.
Sky City closed up 10c at 302, pulling up from yesterday's six-year low.
The casino company's share price has been hammered after a $60m cinema writedown, uncertainty over takeover activity and a period without a chief executive last year, but new chief executive Nigel Morrison has been revamping the company and concentrating on revenue growth.
Top stock Telecom was down 5c at 340 and Fletcher Building was flat at 651.
Contact Energy, which yesterday rose 44c after the Takeovers Panel said it was looking for an independent expert in the event a takeover of parent Origin Energy triggered a takeover of Contact, rose a further 3c to 809.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 6c to 235 in reaction to the softer NZ dollar, F&P Appliances was up a cent at 197, Auckland Airport fell a cent to 178, and Infratil rose a cent to 196.
"There's a lot of money sitting on the sidelines that's reluctant to come into this market until a bit more certainty comes back," Mr Williamson said.
There was more interest than usual in Thursday's interest rate decision, to see if the Reserve Bank will concentrate more on getting the economy out of its decline than worrying about current rising inflation, he said.
There was also the possibility that the reporting season could throw up a few surprises, particularly if export companies and those with overseas assets are starting to benefit from a declining currency. The kiwi has dropped more than A10c against the Australian dollar so far this year.
The Warehouse rose a cent to 389, NZX gained 25c to 695, Pike River Coal was up 6c at 206 and parent NZ Oil and Gas was up 2c at 156.
TrustPower fell 4c to 750, Michael Hill was down 3c at 76, Steel & Tube fell 12c to 260, and Mainfreight fell 2c to 640.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 0.1 per cent at 5006, while Japan's Nikkei share average jumped 2.6 per cent.
Earlier on Wall Street, US stocks slipped as oil turned higher after last week's sharp drop and Merck and Schering-Plough hurt the pharmaceuticals sector.
But dismal results after the bell from a raft of companies, including American Express, Apple and Texas Instruments set an uglier tone for Tuesday.
- NZPA
