KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket opened flat today, with little early action apart from a 4c gain by Fletcher Building.
Around 30 minutes after the market's 10am opening the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 1.25 points to 4232.49, following a 5.6 point rise yesterday.
Overnight in the United States stocks had gained in a holiday-shortened session, lifted by fresh takeover talk and after a report suggesting Apple Inc would generate fat profit margins on its iPhone.
In this country, Fletcher Building's 4c early rise to 1231 followed an 8c fall yesterday after soft housing data from the US and Australia.
Top stock Telecom was unchanged early today at 462, following a 9c gain yesterday on solid turnover .
After the local market closed on Monday, US broker Citigroup said it had raised its recommendation on Telecom to a buy from hold.
Having dropped 4c yesterday, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 1c early today to 331.
Pumpkin Patch gained 5c to 325, having fallen 6c yesterday to a nearly two-year low.
Also early today, Freightways was up 1c to 410 and Restaurant Brands added 1c to 85.
Early falls included Infratil down 1c to 315, Mainfreight down 2c to 738, Sanford down 3c to 416, Sky City down 2c to 500, and Tower down 1c to 233.
Dorchester Pacific gained 1c early to 156, having dropped 10c yesterday.
Until April, Dorchester had Bridgecorp -- in receivership since Monday night -- as a key shareholder.
Dorchester today issued a statement which said it confirmed to the market that it had no shareholding or commercial relationship with Bridgecorp.
Bridgecorp at no time had any managerial or board level involvement or influence on Dorchester during the period in which it was a shareholder, Dorchester said.
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In the US overnight a report showing that factory orders, excluding the volatile transportation sector, rose in May added to optimism about the economy.
Tech shares gained, lifting the Nasdaq to a 6-1/2-year high, after technology research firm iSuppli said Apple's most expensive iPhone model could deliver a profit margin of more than 55 per cent.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.31 per cent, to close at 13,577.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.36 per cent, to finish at 1524.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.48 per cent, to end at 2644.95.
- NZPA