KEY POINTS:
Optimism on Wall St filtered through to the local sharemarket today, with a moderate 0.1 per cent rise in the benchmark NZSX-50 index.
The index rose 5.11 points to 4243.66, led by a 2c rise in Telecom to 466 .
Today's positive tone followed a surge in US stocks, in which the Dow Jones industrial average hit a record on its biggest point gain since 2002.
However, neither New Zealand nor Australia's market had been carried away, Grant Taylor, a broker from Goldman Sachs JB Were, said.
"I mean, it was only a few days ago when everyone was looking at the bottom of their beer glass and worried about what was going to happen."
Fletcher Building also rose, up 11c to 1244, building on a 7c rise yesterday. Brokers said the stock had been looking oversold.
Other leading stocks were mixed with Auckland International Airport flat at 330, Contact Energy rose 5c to 901 , Fisher & Paykel Appliances gained 5c to 350, F&P Healthcare was flat at 327, and Pumpkin Patch lost 3c to 342.
On the downside, Sky City lost 4c to 489 . Mr Taylor said Sky City shareholders were waiting for a lead about the potential asset sale of the company's Adelaide casino and the movie business, "and for some direction from the acting CEO".
Freightways, off 14c to 391, had weakened because of concerns about weakness in the internal economy, "suggestions that people aren't spending as much as they were".
"Don't get me wrong, Freightways is a great company, but I think checks would suggest that the (local) market is struggling a little."
NZ Oil and Gas lost 3c to 129 after earlier hitting a record high of 134 on positive oil and coal news, while Southport jumped another 15c to 290 on hopes of increased traffic from oil exploration in the South.
Canwest Mediaworks rose 7c to 245, well above the $2.33 per share offer from Ironbridge Capital, which failed to get 90 per cent ownership on Tuesday .
Rises outnumbered falls 69 to 43 on 147 stocks traded.
- NZPA