KEY POINTS:
Telecom's nearly 4 per cent surge today boosted an otherwise lacklustre New Zealand sharemarket.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 20.74 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 4168.10 after falling nearly 1 per cent yesterday due to a high NZ dollar and the interest rate outlook.
Telecom rose 18c to 487 after the Government said it will re-auction 7.5 MHz of spectrum in the 800 and 900 MHz bands, giving investors greater certainty. The remaining spectrum in those bands that expires in 2011/12 will be offered to Telecom and Vodafone.
Yellow Pages Group, sold last month by Telecom for more than $2 billion, today outlined expansion plans and said a non-compete clause in the sale will keep Telecom out of its space.
Second-ranked Fletcher Building fell 15c to 1124.
Contact Energy lost 8c to 900, having hit a record high of 930 on Tuesday.
"That's been trading on pretty thin volumes for a $5 million company recently, although the movement today on 400,000 (shares) is slightly more meaningful. It's had a pretty good run," said Matt Willis of ABN Amro Craigs.
Among other blue chip stocks, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was flat at 366, F&P Appliances fell 4c to 365, Vector rose 2c to 299, and Sky TV was up 4c at 589.
"The anticipation of the next rate review and the strength of the dollar are probably the focus of the market," Mr Willis said.
"We've had a half-decent day, but that can probably be almost entirely explained by the strength of Telecom. The rest of the market looks to have been reasonably flat."
The strong New Zealand dollar is considered generally negative for New Zealand's export-focused companies, but it benefits retailer The Warehouse, which imports much of its stock.
The Warehouse rose 9c to 715, in the wake of a broker report saying the company's shares are likely to jump after the competition regulator clears the way for two potential takeover bids.
Shares in fast food operator Restaurant Brands rose a cent, or 1.1 per cent, to 94 on light turnover after it said it was still talking to an interested buyer. The company also said its unaudited net profit after tax, excluding non-trading items, was down 47 per cent.
Matching record closing highs were jeweller Michael Hill, up 5c at 955, and NZX, up 10c to 1000.
Mainfreight lost 6c to 749, Freightways was flat at 430, Auckland Airport was steady at 240, and Tourism Holdings fell 7c to 213.
The Australian sharemarket was virtually flat, up 5.9 points at 6157.3, while Japan's Nikkei average fell 0.9 per cent.
Earlier on Wall Street, US stocks tumbled as minutes from last month's Federal Reserve meeting hinted at the need for more rate hikes, adding to worries about surging petrol prices and the weak housing market.
- NZPA