KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket gained ground today as investors remained interested despite the prospect of more rises in the New Zealand dollar and interest rates.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 18.48 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 4258.84, on turnover totalling $150.7 million. Falls outnumbered rises 49 to 44.
Higher than expected inflation in the June quarter raised the prospect of another rate hike next week and propelled the kiwi dollar to within spitting distance of US80c.
"The tone is one of caution in terms of the economic outlook, with particular interest in the currency, but at the same time people are being very wary of the prospect of potential corporate activity," said Humphrey Sherratt of Goldman Sachs JBWere.
Market leaders were generally positive. Top stock Telecom was up 7c at 474, Contact Energy jumped 15c to 924, Fletcher Building was up 3c at 1240, Sky City gained 7c to 485, and Sky TV was up 6c at 569.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances was flat at 355, and F&P Healthcare was also steady, at 327.
Auckland Airport was flat at 329. Auckland City Council said it was seeking input from residents and ratepayers about its 12.75 per cent stake, after several parties approached it about its shareholding.
Speculation of a bid has boosted Auckland Airport's shares since it was revealed in mid-June that Canada Pension Plan Investment Board had offered both Manukau and Auckland city councils 310c a share.
Retailers were weaker, with Pumpkin Patch down 3c at 344, Hallenstein Glasson down 2c at 462, and Michael Hill 9c lower at 990.
"One would assume that the prospect for retailers is going to continue to be very harsh from a domestic retailing point of view, I don't think they're going to see a lot of benefit from the currency," Mr Sherratt said.
Retail sales numbers have been volatile, but electronic card transactions had been steadily declining, he said.
Tourism Holdings gained 6c to 275 as MFS Living and Leisure's takeover got major traction. Cornerstone shareholders agreed to the 280c/share offer to lift MFS's stake over 58 per cent.
Other top-50 moves of note included Infratil, down 6c to 309, Tower, down 7c to 240, PGG Wrightson, down 4c to 175, Air New Zealand, up 7c to 267, and Mainfreight, up 7c to 752.
Among dual-listed stocks, Lion Nathan was up 10c at 1013, ANZ rose 5c to 3255, Westpac gained 10c to 2910, and AMP rose 2c to 1145.
- NZPA