NZ sharemarket falls further in early trading

File photo / Paul Estcourt

The New Zealand sharemarket followed on from yesterday's tumble to fall further in early trade, after oil prices charged to fresh 2-1/2 year highs as traders reacted to increasing violence in major producer Libya.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 9.35 points to 3372.59, having dropped 30 points yesterday.

Contact Energy dropped 4c to $6.15, after reporting half year underlying earnings after tax barely changed from a year earlier while revenue rose 12 per cent. Yesterday its shares lost 6c.

Nuplex dropped 5c to $3.67, Auckland Airport dropped 2c to $2.24, Ebos Group fell 2c to $7.57, Fletcher Building lost 2c to $8.28, and Telecom slipped 1c to $2.19.

NZ Refining Co was up 5c early to $4.90, while Abano Healthcare added 4c to $4.70. Diligent Boardbooks gained 4c to 85c after reporting revenue up 66 per cent in 2010, with total annualised licence fee income up 59 per cent.

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United States markets were closed for a holiday, while in Europe equities lost more than 1 per cent on a combination of uncertainty over the future of the oil price, increasing signs that higher interest rates may be coming and more evidence of a surprisingly poor earnings season.

Together, the worries overshadowed reports of solid European economic growth.

Gold powered to its highest levels in seven weeks, above US$1400 an ounce, helped along by both inflation fears and risk aversion.

- NZPA