NZ sharemarket closes little changed

The New Zealand sharemarket closed little changed on a day in which the Reserve Bank did as expected and left official interest rates at a record low 2.5 per cent.

The rate decision, and accompanying comments, were followed by a fall in the New Zealand dollar, which ended at US69.80c, down from US70.63c yesterday.

News that respected businessmen, including Sam Morgan, Stephen Tindall and Rod Drury had a vision to build a $900 million fibre optic cable from New Zealand and Australia to the United States got extensive coverage but Telecom closed unchanged at 224. Telecom is a part owner of the existing Southern Cross Cable Network.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 2.746 points at 3223.446. Turnover was worth $79.3 million. There were 30 rises and 50 falls among the 115 shares traded.

Fletcher Building fell 2c to 809 but Contact Energy rose 4c to 613.

NZOG, which notified today that the Hoki-1 offshore exploration well it has a stake in has reached a depth of 1505m, fell 3c to 156.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 1c to 330 a day after publicising its new product range. Infratil was unchanged at 165 on a day in which is released an extensive briefing to investors.

Steel & Tube fell 4c to 265, Sky TV was unchanged at 505, and Mainfreight rose 3c to 615. Tourism Holdings fell 6c to 94, Methven fell 5c to 175 and Guinness Peat Group fell 2c to 90.

Wakefield Health eased 4c to 700 a day after announcing an expansion into the Bay of Plenty.

Xero rose 3c to 164 and Comvita rose 5c to 190.

In the United States, bank and technology shares lifted Wall Street on hopes a revival in business demand will boost corporate profits.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 0.03 per cent to end at 10,567.33, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.45 per cent to 1145.61, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.78 per cent to 2358.95.

- NZPA