KEY POINTS:
A strong day on Wall St and across the Tasman failed to set the New Zealand sharemarket alight, with leading stocks on the wane.
On Wall St, the Dow Jones index set another record high after unexpected growth in manufacturing and a surprise $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
Australian stocks were also up over 1 per cent in mid-afternoon trading as steady interest rates helped banks.
But in New Zealand, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 0.1 per cent or 4.6 points to 4186.98 on turnover worth $131 million.
Some $75 million of the volume was in Telecom, which weakened 3c to 487 as investors anticipated a flat first quarter result and possible capital return tomorrow.
"Tomorrow morning we'll have a lot more detail and possibly expect some volatility in that share price tomorrow, " Grant Williamson, a partner with Hamilton, Hindin, Greene, said.
Contact Energy, meanwhile, fell 14c to 884 on higher than usual volume as shareholders digested yesterday's news that wholesale power prices were less than half what they were last year.
However, Forsyth Barr analyst Greg Main said the higher lake levels were already known in the market and analysts were more interested in the company's hedge book and carbon trading future.
He felt the company was performing solidly.
Fletcher Building was stuck in its normal trading range, sinking to a low of 1114 before recovering to 1130, up 5c.
"I think the outlook with interest rates still going up, the strong dollar, a number of investors are prepared to take some profits and sit on the sidelines and see what happens in the next few months," Mr Williamson said.
Star performer was Dominion Finance , whose shares rose 20c or nearly 10 per cent to a year high of 230 after reporting that its net year profit had doubled as a result of acquisition.
"It's been a quiet achiever on the New Zealand market in the last number of months," Mr Williamson noted.
Other positive stories included Hellaby Holdings, up 6c to 416 after yesterday's news that it was thinking about selling its retail shoe operations.
Currency-sensitive stocks Sanford and F&P Healthcare were up 15c to 465 and 1c to 383 respectively.
The latter had been creeping up over recent days but with the currency still strong, the reason was "a bit of a mystery", Mr Williamson said.
NZ Refining built on yesterday's 15c rise with another 20c to 702 after figures showed strong margins despite a lower throughput in March.
But NZ Oil & Gas dropped 2c to 94 as investors appeared to lose patience with the start date of production at its Pike River Coal mine.
Takeover target Tourism Holdings shed a cent to 271 after Monday's surprise, friendly, $277m takeover bid from Australian investor MFS Living and Leisure. Today's close was still below the offer price of $2.80 per share in cash.
Underperforming stock Restaurant Brands eased a cent to 90 after announcing it had ended talks with interested parties about buying the company.
The unsurprised market "had worked it into the equation several weeks ago",m Mr Williamson said.
Dental company Software of Excellence continued to soar after revealing on Monday a potential bidder was in the wings. It rose 10c to a new year high of 275, following a 45c or 21 per cent rise on Monday.
Other moves included Sky City up 7c to 485, Auckland Airport up 5c to 254, GPG down 4c to 230 and the Warehouse up 3c to 696.
- NZPA