WELLINGTON (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices closed lower following a sharp fall in Fletcher Building after its recent strong rally, dealers said.
The NZX-50 gross index fell 4.96 points or 0.14 pct to 3,668.26 on turnover worth 167.1 mln nzd.
Fletcher Building, which has been driven higher on takeover speculation, fell 0.17 nzd to 9.48 nzd.
Speculation in the building materials company has been fuelled by an unknown buyer building a stake.
'I think it's a case of watch this space,' said Grant Williamson, a partner with Hamilton, Hindin, Greene.
'Where there's smoke, there's normally fire so I think brokers are still thinking that at some stage, something is going to happen there.'
Market leader Telecom rose 0.03 nzd to 4.38.
Port of Tauranga rose 0.05 nzd to 6.00 nzd and casino operator SkyCity fell 0.06 nzd to 5.12 after it revised its profit forecast down for the current year.
Contact Energy fell 0.07 nzd to 7.12 on continuing fallout from its downbeat annual meeting yesterday.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 0.03 nzd at 4.12, Freightways was down 0.07 nzd at 3.85, Mooring Systems dropped 0.20 nzd to 4.30 and Port of Lyttelton fell 0.07 nzd to 2.13.
Air NZ rose 0.03 nzd to 1.49, continuing its recent rise on lower oil prices and a profit upgrade by Australian counterpart Qantas.
(1 usd = 1.49 nzd)
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