KEY POINTS:
Indications of another bid for Auckland Airport failed to energise a lacklustre New Zealand sharemarket today.
"The market's in a bit of a holding pattern," said Nigel Scott, a retail equities adviser with ABN Amro Craigs.
"Currency's a little bit mixed and also we're coming to the end of the reporting season."
Auckland Airport shares were up 4c to 307, from a session high of 315, as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board signalled an alternative bid to Dubai Aerospace's offer.
The Canadian offer may be more palatable because it would seek a majority but not controlling stake of 49 per cent.
Because there was no firm bid on the table, Mr Scott said investors were adopting a wait-and-see position.
"The market's being patient on the potential for any activity and ...the only thing which will really move the market is someone positioning on-market in the stock."
On the NZSX-50, the index rose just 6.79 points or 0.16 per cent to 4125 on "slightly better than moderate volumes" worth $90m.
Telecom rose 10c to 438 after confirming its $1.1b capital return would be paid out on October 5. Investors had "a little bit of certainty in that cashflow," Mr Scott said.
Infratil closed up 1.3c to 278, following the close of its one-for-five rights issue, while Ebos jumped 10c to 505 after completing a $11.7 million placement to fund the purchase of medical supplies company PRNZ Ltd.
Other moves included Air NZ, up 5c to 211, Fletcher Building up 12c to 1188, Contact down 4c to 911, BIL down 7c to 132, GPG down 1c to 205, F&P Appliances down 9c to 360, and F&P Healthcare up 5c to 343.
Sky TV fell 22c to 536, Sky City fell 9c to 449 and Rakon lost 9c to 480.
Falls narrowly outnumbered rises 58 to 55 on 149 stocks traded.
Mr Scott said investors would also be thinking about the ramifications of the recent turmoil in the finance company sector.
"The market's going to monitor the reinvestment rate within the finance companies as a lead to investor sentiment," he said.
Offshore, Australian trading was mixed and the sharemarket was flat in late morning trading, and US markets were shut tonight for Labour Day.
On Friday night, Wall St surged as the Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke assured the market that it would do what was needed to shelter the market from sub-prime turmoil.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 119.01 points, or 0.90 per cent, at 13,357.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 16.35 points, or 1.12 per cent, at 1,473.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 31.06 points, or 1.21 per cent, at 2,596.36.
- NZPA