Market falls in early trades

The New Zealand sharemarket fell in early trade, with leading shares heading lower after a stock market rally unravelled late in the United States.

Telecom shares were down 2c early to $2.53, Fletcher Building fell 4c to $8.36, and Contact Energy was down 7c to $6.20.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 10.8 points to 3207.42, following a 34.3-point fall yesterday on a combination of profit-taking and weakness in offshore markets.

Among other shares to fall early today, Nuplex was down 3c to $2.36, Sky TV lost 3c to $4.69, and Trustpower fell 3c to $7.54. Dual-listed bank ANZ fell 28c to $29.00 and Westpac dropped 10c to $32.20.

Stocks rising early included NZ Refining Co up 5c to $5.30, Mainfreight up 5c to $5.60, Steel & Tube up 2c to $3.15, Port of Tauranga up 2c to $7.27, and Infratil up 2c to $1.64.

A trading halt was placed on Pyne Gould Corporation as the company carries out a bookbuild process for a share placement.

Yesterday, Pyne Gould's shares were unchanged at 46c after the company announced the takeup of its fully underwritten $237m rights issue.

A shortfall of only 11.3 per cent in the huge rights issue was well received as evidence of the market's ability to provide capital.

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In the United States, spooked traders unravelled a stock market rally late in the session as worries mounted about banks and a jump in the price of oil.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 92 points, or 0.9 per cent to 9949.36, after having risen 78 points earlier in the day to a new high for the year.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.9 per cent to 1081.40, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 0.6 per cent to 2150.73.

- NZPA