KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket closed little changed today, searching for direction as the United States was absent due to the Independence Day holiday.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index fell 3.56 points to 4236.71 on turnover totalling $97 million. Falls outnumbered rises 57 to 36.
"The market's actually flat, which is where it's been for most of the day. Very little out there to drive the blue chips, but Telecom's fairly firm," said Tom Bliss of Forsyth Barr.
Telecom was up 4c at 466. The Government said today it would complete its statutory requirements for the structural separation of Telecom by the end of 2007, and would talk to Telecom about the company's proposal to sell off its network assets.
Counteracting that, number two stock Fletcher Building fell 26c to 1224. The construction and building supplies company has retreated since hitting a record high of 1342 in May amid its takeover of Formica.
"It's had a very good run, and it's not surprising to see this ongoing weakness in the market overall, given business confidence etc," Mr Bliss said.
Among other blue chips, Contact Energy was down 5c at 906, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 2c to 326, and F&P Appliances lost a cent to 344.
Infratil gained 8c to 315, Trustpower was down 5c at 840, and Mainfreight was down 4c at 734,
Tourism Holdings rose 3c to 255, as analysts speculated the 280-per-share bid by Australia's MFS Living and Leisure would fail. MFS has lifted its stake to 22.3 percent, with the offer closing on July 21.
Shares in bathroom products maker Methven were on a trading halt until Monday after buying privately owned British distributer Deva Tap, expected to boost sales by 75 percent to $124.
Trans-Tasman stock Goodman Fielder rose 7c to 269 after buying small New Zealand milk producer Independent Dairy Producers.
Pumpkin Patch was up 12c at 331, NZ Refining rose 2c to 782, and Tower increased 8c to 244.
Forestry entrepreneur Rubicon was down 5c at 105. Rubicon announced yesterday that ArborGen -- a leading tree genetics researcher in which Rubicon has a one-third stake -- is participating in the search for genetic secrets of eucalyptus trees.
Ebos was down 15c to 496, Steel & Tube lost 4c to 450, The Warehouse lost 5c to 605, Air New Zealand was down 4c to 253, and Hellaby Holdings lost 12c to 338.
Among the dual-listed stocks. Westpac lost 12c to 2830, ANZ was up 16c at 3200, and AMP rose 16c to 1131.
Australia's benchmark index was up 0.8 percent at 6346.8, while Japan's Nikkei average was up 0.6 percent.
- NZPA