New Zealand share prices closed 0.10 percent lower on Tuesday in lacklustre trade following the Easter break, dealers said. The benchmark NZX-50 gross index fell 4.23 points to 4,180.47 on light turnover worth 98.1 million dollars (71.1 million US).
Market leader Telecom fell five cents to 4.75 dollars. A report suggested the payout to shareholders from the 2.24 billion dollar sale of its Yellow Pages unit last month may be as little as 500 million dollars. Fletcher Building rose a cent to 11.50 dollars, Contact Energy fell a cent to 9.27 and rival energy stock Vector rose two cents to 2.98 dollars.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare rose two cents to 3.71 dollars, Fisher and Paykel Appliances rose three cents to 3.70 and pay television operator Sky TV rose four cents to 5.80.