New Zealand sharemarket remains flat

The New Zealand sharemarket was little changed for a second day after the US market ended slightly down after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Japan.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 5.08 points at 3445.28, having edged up just 0.48 points yesterday. Many markets in Asia posted gains, surprising some commentators.

The local market is consolidating after a run higher and is awaiting fresh direction. The government's budget on May 19 is becoming a focus of investors and credit rating agencies, while a rise in the New Zealand dollar above 78USc today looked to have momentum.

Fletcher Building rose 2c to 937, while Telecom eased 2c to 198.5. Restaurant Brands eased a cent to 244 after rising yesterday on a strong profit report.

Contact Energy eased 7c to 576 and Rakon eased 3c to 106. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare eased 5c to 306, Air NZ eased a cent to 111 and SkyCity eased 3c to 341.

SkyTV eased 5c to 570 and NZOG eased a cent to 94. Pyne Gould Corp rose a cent to 26, Ryman Healthcare rose 6c to 248 and Sanford rose 11c to 564.

PGG Wrightson rose a cent to 43. Mainfreight rose 13c to 933 and TrustPower rose 3c to 728. Port of Tauranga rose 3c to 834. AMP rose 8c to 760 and ANZ rose 5c to 32.48.

In the US, stocks fell in morning trading but pared losses after the impact of the latest Japanese quake appeared to be less than initially feared, despite striking near the same area as the massive quake that triggered devastating tsunami four weeks ago.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.1% at 12,409.49, the S&P 500 index fell 0.2% to 1333.51, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1% to 2796.14.

US economic news was also mostly positive. The 382,000 people applying for unemployment for the first time last week. That was the third drop in four weeks, suggesting layoffs were slowing.

Major retailers also reported better-than-expected sales for March at stores that have been open at least a year. Analysts had predicted declines because of cold weather and higher gas prices.