KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket rose half a per cent today, strengthening throughout the session in line with trading in Australia.
The NZSX-50 index rose 0.53 per cent, or 22.9 points, to 4312.5 on a healthy $157 million turnover.
Fletcher Building, the biggest newsmaker of the day, was not trading as it completed a placement to partially fund its US$700 ($976) million purchase of the world's biggest laminates manufacturer, Formica.
Trading in Fletcher Building was likely to resume tomorrow and the market was keenly interested in the placement price, Bryon Burke, a retail adviser for ABN Amro Craigs Equities, said.
On Monday, the market's second-largest listing hit its highest ever close of 1290 and its market capitalisation was closing in on top stock Telecom.
Analysts said the price seemed fair. "They're definitely not paying over the odds for it," said First NZ Capital research manager Barry Lindsay.
"It's about development, additional growth for the business and geographic diversification, which is all seen to be positive."
F&P Healthcare shares rose 2.5 per cent, or 9c, to 369, and analysts reportedly came out of a presentation today feeling that the result was solid except for the exchange rate.
One broker said the share price could have risen because of a fall in the kiwi dollar, boosting the outlook.
Another stock possibly affected by a softer Kiwi dollar was Telecom, which appears more attractive to offshore investors. It rose 9c to 488 on a hefty turnover worth $82.5 million.
Tech stock Rakon hit a new high of 565, before edging down to a close of 552, up 3c.
Port of Tauranga, which struggles with low liquidity, struck an all-time high of 680, up 10c. Mr Burke said the port had surpassed the 620 level set during merger talks with Port of Auckland, and was well beyond the 560 level it slumped to after the merger looked less likely.
Casino operator SkyCity, which this week announced an aggressive cost-cutting plan, fell 5c to 503 on high turnover.
But brokers said it was probably due to profit-taking after a strong, two-day run.
"Brokers' reports that have come out today on SkyCity news were all pretty positive," Mr Burke said.
Other moves included Contact, down 4c to 892, Vector up 6c to 297, the Warehouse down 13c to 652, Infratil down 6c to 660, and takeover target APN News up 31c to 675.
Ryman rose 9c to 267 after announcing an 18 per cent rise in March year net profit yesterday.
Rises outnumbered falls 58 to 49 on 152 stocks traded.
In Australia, the sharemarket had a slow start but was heading towards positng a 0.6 per cent rise as top banks recovered from previous day's steep falls.
Overnight, falling oil prices sparked concerns for energy stocks and the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 2.93 points, or 0.02 per cent, to end at 13,539.95.
But an expression of interest in casino operator MGM Mirage helped drive the Nasdaq to its highest close in six years, gaining 9.23 points, or 0.36 per cent, to close at 2,588.02.
- NZPA