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The sharemarket drifted higher today, with domestic-focused stocks benefiting amid continued strength in the New Zealand dollar.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 6.30 points at 4177.01, on turnover totalling $115.6 million.
"It's fluctuated a wee bit between a few points down and a few points up, so it managed to hold up on the right side of the ledger," said Stephen Wright of ASB Securities.
Telecom was down 1c at 482, after gaining 1.9 per cent yesterday as private equity investors circled on talk about a split of the company. Last week it was offering to spin off its copper wire network rather than accept the Government's latest regulatory proposal.
"Straight out domestic type stocks were quite firm," Mr Wright said.
Vector rose 3c to 300, TrustPower was up 5c at 840, Contact Energy rose 2c to 905, and Infratil gained 6c to 588.
Dual-listed stocks also gained, with ANZ up 15c at 34.75, Westpac up 45c at 3035, and New Zealand Herald publisher APN up 8c at 679 after a group led by Tony O'Reilly's Independent News and Media increased its takeover offer.
Sky TV jumped 23c, or nearly 4 per cent, to 615.
"That of course benefits from a high New Zealand dollar because they buy their programming in US dollars," Mr Wright said.
The New Zealand dollar remained close to yesterday's two-year high above US74c, but failed to retake that level today.
Retailer The Warehouse, which yesterday rose 15c to a four year high, today eased 3c to 729. One broker is suggesting 10 per cent owner Woolworths could bid up to $8 a share for the company.
Woolworths said today it has had talks with other parties about a possible joint offer for some assets of rival Australian retailer, Coles. Woolworths says it has large enough pockets to fund several purchases.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 2c to 363, F&P Appliances lost 2c to 365, and Fletcher Building was down 5c at 1140.
Outside the top-10, Hellaby Holdings rose 8c to 400, Freightways lost 5c to 420, Air New Zealand was up 4c to 244, and PGG Wrightson fell 2c to 161.
Controversial texting company Plus SMS Holdings rose 1.5c to 14 after lifting a trading halt, following news the company had settled litigation with founder Garry Donoghue.
- NZPA