KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket managed to shrug off a lacklustre start to end the day higher, with the main driver being trends in offshore markets rather than local news.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 16.556 points at 4193.568. However, falls outnumbered rises by 56 to 46 among the 143 stocks traded. Turnover was worth $117 million.
The lead from offshore was a positive one. Australian shares rose to fresh all-time highs today, boosted by takeover activity and a strong resource sector, while in the United States the Dow industrials ended just short of a new record high.
In New Zealand, Telecom closed up 6c at 488 after starting the day weaker and Fletcher Building rose 20c to a record 1160.
"Telecom opened weak first thing this morning but when the Australian market opened it improved," said Grant Williamson, partner at Hamilton Hindin Greene.
"We are seeing some foreign buying in Telecom in our afternoons," he said.
Investors continue to assess a number of uncertainties facing the future of Telecom, including how much will be distributed to shareholders from the sale of the Yellow Pages Group.
Fletcher Building's strength was put down to a rise in building stocks in Australia, particularly James Hardie Industries, which is seen as benefiting from strong home starts in the US.
Lion Nathan eased 9c to 1040 after Australian company Coca-Cola Amatil accelerated plans to sell alcoholic drinks and direct new investment to both Australia and New Zealand.
One dampener on exporters was the rise of the New Zealand dollar to a post float high of US74.91c. The higher currency reduces the income of exporters but makes imports cheaper.
Exporter Fisher & Paykel Appliances was down 3c at 362, while the healthcare stock was down 3c at 360.
Fishing company Sanford, which yesterday warned of a disappointing first-half result due to the high dollar eating into profit, was down 16c at 480.
Sky TV, expected to be a beneficiary of the high dollar because of the lower costs of programming, was unchanged at 615 after jumping 23c yesterday.
Air NZ, also expected to benefit from the high kiwi due to lower leasing and fuel costs, was up 1c at 245.
Carpet maker Cavalier rose 8c to 342, while TrustPower was unchanged at 840.
The Warehouse, which features in some scenarios in a shakeup of trans-Tasman retailing was down 4c at 725.
SkyCity was down 1c at 471.
Port of Tauranga was up 7c at 642, while Lyttelton Port was up 3c at 223.
Nuplex was up 5c at 740. Tourism Holdings was down 4c at 216. Guinness Peat Group was down 1c at 228.
Mainfreight was unchanged at 750, while Infratil was down 4c at 592.
- NZPA