New Zealand shares rose on Monday as Fletcher Building and Telecom bounced back from Friday's selloff when investors sold liquid stocks to participate in an Auckland International Airport share placement.

But NZX and Freightways fell after posting their results.

The NZX 50 Index rose 17.74 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 4214.47. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 18 fell and nine were unchanged. Turnover was a lower-than-average $97.7 million.

Fletcher, the biggest company on the NZX 50 and typically the most heavily traded, rose 1.5 per cent to $9. It fell by a similar amount on Friday. Telecom rose 1.6 per cent to $2.25.

Auckland Airport fell 0.4 per cent to $2.76, adding to Friday's 5.8 per cent decline after the NZ Superannuation Fund sold 7.6 per cent of the airport company at a discount to its last traded price.

"Fletcher and Telecom got back some of Friday's hit," said David Price, a broker at Forsyth Barr.

Contact Energy, the biggest power company on the bourse, fell about one per cent to $5.08 ahead of the release of its interim results on Tuesday.

NZX, the stock market operator, fell 2.3 per cent to $1.27 after reporting a 32 per cent decline to $9.86 million in full-year profit, missing some estimates, and giving little indication of the outlook for 2013.

Freightways, the courier and data management company, declined 1.1 per cent to $4.45 after posting an 11 per cent gain in first-half profit to a record $21 million and saying the outlook is for a slow pace of growth.

"The whole market is on multiples of over 15 and when you're getting that sort of multiple you want to see reasonably strong growth to push forward," Mr Price said.

"If you don't beat forecasts or deliver a positive outlook then you'll probably see your stock marked back."