KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket started the day weaker, after stocks slid in the United States as the global economic outlook worsened.
In this country, leading stocks took the market down early with Telecom losing 5c to 237, Fletcher Building losing 4c to 560, and Contact Energy down 12c to 713 on small volume.
Around 10.20am the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 23.74 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 2718.17, following yesterday's 25.8-point fall.
Infratil was down 2c to 179, on top of a 3c loss yesterday after it announced an interim profit that included a gain from taking a view on the decline of the S&P500 by taking out put, or sell, options.
Sky City lost 6c early to 300, The Warehouse was down 4c to 375, Comvita was down 5c to 142, and Pyne Gould Corp dropped 5c to 320.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare provided a slight glimmer of hope amid the gloom, with a rise of 1c to 319.
In the US stocks fell heavily in a tug of war session between bulls and bears after the Group of 20 weekend economic summit failed to calm investor fears and global recession worries intensified.
Preliminary figures put the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 2.7 per cent, the Nasdaq fell 2.3 per cent , and the broad Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 2.6 per cent.
Trading remained nervous as markets reacted to news that Japan had joined the eurozone in recession and more forecasts said the US economy was likely headed for the same fate.
A series of rally attempts failed to hold and selling accelerated late in the day.
- NZPA
