KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket lost ground today, despite a weaker New Zealand dollar and gains over the Tasman.
The NZSX-50 index closed down 16.6 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 3353.6, erasing all of yesterday's gains during a session in which turnover totalled $111.9 million.
"It's been pretty quiet today but the kiwi dollar continues to show a bit of weakness, which is interesting for a few of the exporters - but quite frankly I think there'd be a bit of Olympics watching," said Campbell Stuart of UBS.
Top stock Telecom was down 3c at 333, on top of yesterday's 4c loss as investors assessed US hedge fund Elliott International's move to nominate two candidates for board seats.
Elliott owns 3 per cent of Telecom, and says that so far there is not a wider concerted effort behind its move.
Contact Energy was down 14c at 855, and Fletcher Building also fell 14c, to 643.
"Clearly waiting for the (Fletcher) Building result tomorrow, which will be probably the most interesting piece of news for a while," Mr Stuart said.
"I'm sure their result will be fine, relative, and it's just a case of where to from here."
Among other blue chips, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 6c at 293, F&P Appliances fell 4c to 212, Auckland Airport was steady at 203, Sky City was down 8c at 367, and Sky TV gained 14c to 489.
Freightways fell 6c to 315, NZ Farming Systems Uruguay was down 2c at 180, parent PGG Wrightson fell 6c to 276, Pike River Coal lost 4c to 181, and NZ Oil and Gas lost 3c to 149.
On the rise, seafood exporter Sanford gained 17c to 615, Tourism Holdings was up 5c at 145, Mainfreight rose 6c to 700, Vector gained 8c to 230, and The Warehouse was up 6c at 350.
Australia's ASX/S&P 200 Index was up 0.6 per cent at 5055, while Japan's Nikkei share average rose nearly 1 per cent.
Dual-listed stocks were generally positive. ANZ was up 34c at 2255, Westpac gained 30c to 3100, Lion Nathan was up 12c at 1112, and AMP gained 8c to 865.
Earlier on Wall Street, US stocks rose as oil prices closed lower for a sixth day, improving prospects for consumer and business spending.
The gains built on the market's best week since April. The fall in the price of oil boosted retailers' stocks before a batch of earnings from Wal-Mart Stores Inc and others, as well as energy-sensitive airline shares.
- NZPA