KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket rebounded more than 1 per cent today, despite the release of further gloomy economic data and falling markets in the United States and elsewhere.
The NZSX-50 benchmark index closed up 39.1 points at 3160.6, on turnover totalling $103.6 million.
"It's really only the quality stocks that are coming in for attention," said Grant Williamson of Hamilton Hindin Greene.
"There still doesn't seem to be a lot behind this rally today, it's not on large volume and the majority of investors remain very cautious. We're still lacking that local news to drive prices, so we're really concentrating on what's happening overseas."
Third-ranked Fletcher Building, which sank to a three-year low last week, climbed 31c, or 5 per cent, to 653.
"That's been hit extremely hard in the last month or so, so it's not surprising we're seeing a bit of a rebound," Mr Williamson said.
Top stock Telecom was up 9c at 347, Contact Energy gained 12c to 772, Auckland Airport was up 8c at 195, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained a cent to 230, and F&P Appliances rose 3c to 186.
Sky City lost 2c to 315, and Sky TV fell 5c to 420.
The market did not react specifically to today's Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion from the NZ Institute of Economic Research, which pointed to a recession with three quarters of economic decline.
"A continuation of the statistics that have been coming out, no major surprises for the market there," Mr Williamson said.
Pumpkin Patch fell 4c to 148, following earlier gains after Kathmandu founder Jan Cameron's disclosure of her 6.3 per cent stake in the childrens' clothing company.
The Warehouse was up 3c at 398, Air New Zealand gained a cent to 110, Mainfreight rose 11c to 640, Port of Tauranga gained 10c to 635, and Rakon was up 4c at 280.
NZ Oil and Gas was up 2c at 172 after it had raised $192.7m through the take-up of almost all options by its shareholders. Just under 139 million options were on issue, 92.5 per cent of which were converted to ordinary shares at 150 each.
Its coal-mining offshoot, Pike River Coal, fell 8c to 210.
The property investment sector followed its Australian counterpart and came under pressure. Kiwi Income Property Trust fell 2c to 114, AMP Office Trust lost 2c to 110, Goodman Property Trust was also down 2c, at 118, and ING Medical Properties lost a cent to 111.
Among dual-listed stocks, ANZ fell 42c to 2391, Westpac rose 15c to 2515, Lion Nathan was up 49c at 1129, and AMP fell 15c at 825.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 1.2 per cent to 4942, while Japan's Nikkei share average fell 2.3 per cent.
Earlier, US stocks fell on concerns that the top two mortgage providers would have to raise even more capital, while big energy companies fell along with oil prices.
- NZPA