KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket ended mildly in the black today, with trading dominated by some very large crosses.
The NZSX-50 benchmark index rose just 3.7 points to 4071.01, with a huge $409 million total turnover. Falls outnumbered rises 58 to 47.
It was difficult to tell whether the heavy crosses were due to options being exercised or market-related, Nigel Scott, retail equities adviser with ABN Amro Craigs, said.
But with Thanksgiving approaching in the US tomorrow, volumes could taper off, he said.
Telecom fell 6c to 420 on a very heavy $274m turnover, after announcing some key executive appointments to head its divisions following its enforced split.
Other stocks to trade strongly included Fletcher Building rose 15c to 1170 on volume worth $50m. Today Boral, an Australian rival of Fletcher's, sought competition guidance on a possible bid for Carter Holt Harvey building assets.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare had also traded heavily in recent days, down a cent today to 320. Contact Energy added 2c to 895 on a $14m turnover and strong volumes were noted in Air NZ, down 3c to 196, and the Warehouse, flat at 520.
Auckland Airport jumped 13c to 299 as the market digested the election of Infratil's Lloyd Morrison and two council-backed directors to the board.
Sky City was flat at 534 as expectations grew for a buyer to emerge from due diligence.
Pumpkin Patch gained 7c to 279 after warning yesterday of softening sales in Britain and the US. Shares in the children's clothing firm hit a high of $4.95 in January.
Mainfreight slipped 2c to 710 after posting a 9 per cent increase in first half net profit, before non-recurring items, of $15.72 million.
Rakon rose 9c to $4.35 after dropping 89c in the last two daysafter disappointing half year results and advice it could have difficulty reaching its full year forecast.
Vector was flat at 227 after saying it was on track to achieve the upper end of analysts' full year forecasts for ebitda.
- NZPA