I was somewhat surprised as well, especially with the pull backs during the session on friday. The positive though was the volume. Although not huge, it was a significant increase on the daily average, with quite a lot of those shares soaked up quietly.
It almost felt people were gun shy to take the price higher. I agree that the state of markets generally may have been a concern, the strong rise in the US on Friday night may add some confidence.
There is nothing wrong with a steady rise.
NEN Price at posting:
33.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held