KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket opened in negative territory this morning.
After last week finishing a poor five days with a strong performance on Friday the benchmark NZX-50 index opened today at 2767.668 and immediately dropped 0.488 per cent to 2754.688.
Market leader Telecom led the way, dropping 6c, or 2.47 per cent, from $2.43 to $2.37.
Other stocks losing ground, on smaller volumes, were Fletcher Building, which lost 7c, or 1.21 per cent, from $5.77 to $5.70.
NZ Oil & Gas was down 1c, or 0.83 per cent from $1.20 to $1.19.
Infratil, announcing half year results today, set off at $1.84 and lost 2c, or 1.09 per cent, to $1.82.
Stocks showing gains were Ryman, lifting 2c, or 1.47 per cent, to $1.38.
Sky Television lifted 3c, or 0.82 per cent, to $3.68, and The Warehouse was also up 3c, or 0.8 per cent, to $3.80.
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The Australian sharemarket was expected to open lower after Wall Street slumped on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 50.8 points, or 1.37 per cent, at 3748.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index had risen 53.6 points, or 1.46 per cent.
Friday on Wall Street ended a turbulent week with another astonishing show of volatility. Stocks plunged, recovered and then plunging again as investors absorbed another wave of downbeat economic news.
Hedge fund selling in advance of a Saturday deadline contributed to the market's gyrations, which set back the Dow Jones industrials almost 340 points.
Analysts believe the market is still searching for a bottom after last month's huge losses, and that the pattern of volatility will continue for some time - selling, even on technical reasons like looming deadlines for cashing out hedge fund holdings, is still coming against a backdrop of an extremely weak economy.
The Dow fell 337.93, or 3.82 per cent, to 8497.31 at its lows of the day. The Dow fell more than 300 in early trading, recovered to a slim advance and then turned sharply lower at the end of the day as hedge funds cashed out.
Fund investors had a November 15 deadline for withdrawing their money.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 38.00, or 4.17 per cent, to 873.29, and the Nasdaq stumbled 79.85, or 5.00 per cent, to 1516.85.
- NZPA
