KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket closed virtually flat yesterday after last week's record-breaking run.
The NZX-50 index was down just 0.8 of a point at 4304.41, on turnover totalling $101 million.
"You've seen a couple of the blue-chip stocks sold off on a bit of profit taking," said Grant Williamson of Hamilton Hindin Greene.
Market leader Telecom was down 5c at $4.86 after it went ex a 7c dividend yesterday.
Fletcher Building, a star performer in the wake of announcing a plan for a near $1 billion purchase of Formica last week, was down 7c at $13.03.
Contact Energy fell 8c to $8.80 on small volume, SkyCity was down 2c at $5.14 after last week's plans to improve performance, and Sky TV lost 11c to $5.74.
After last week's soft annual results, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare recovered 7c to $3.62 and F&P Appliances lost 2c to $3.75.
The Warehouse was down 9c at $6.37 after news last week of another postponement of the Commerce Commission's decision on allowing Woolworths and/or Foodstuffs to make a takeover bid.
Hellaby Holdings lost 7c to $3.98 after a second warning about annual profit, this time due to its automotive and industrial assets after its retail performance turned around.
ING Property Trust was unchanged at $1.25 after increasing its annual after-tax profit by 32 per cent to $121 million.
NZ Oil and Gas rose 3c to a five-month high of $1.07 amid a variety of good news, including a green light for its Pike River Coal float.
"There is quite a bit of foreign buying in that stock, and quite a bit of local interest," Williamson said.
The Tui oil development in Taranaki was also moving closer to production, which would create a significant cash flow for NZOG.
Air New Zealand rose 8c to $2.90, while NZX was up 5c at $10.50, having earlier hit a record high of $10.90.
Tower rose a cent to $2.41. APN News rose 12c to $6.62 after saying it would boost its dividend by 30 per cent following a failed takeover bid by Independent News and Media.
- NZPA