NZ sharemarket falls early

The New Zealand sharemarket fell in early trading, after weak United States housing data raised risk aversion among investors.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 8.7 points to 3057.88, having gained 22.7 points yesterday.

Telecom lost 3c to $1.89, having reached its highest level in nearly three weeks during trading yesterday at $1.94, as the stock tries to pull away from the record low $1.79 touched last week.

Among other top stocks Contact Energy was down 5c to $5.79, while Fletcher Building was unchanged on $8.18.

Hallenstein Glasson fell 4c to $3.51, Cavalier Corporation was down 3c to $2.57, Sanford lost 2c to $4.10 and Sky TV was down 2c to $5.00 after a 22c gain yesterday.

NZ Refining Co was up 5c early to $3.25 and The Warehouse lifted 2c to $3.58.

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In the US, stocks finished flat as cautious comments from FedEx and the weak housing market data overshadowed a surge in industrial production.

Investors were caught off guard after package company FedEx, deemed an economic bellwether because it serves a wide range of industries, said higher costs would constrain 2011 earnings.

The US government said housing starts fell more than expected in May, underscoring the uneven nature of the economic recovery and casting a shadow over better-than-expected industrial production data for the same month.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.05 per cent to 10,409.46, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index edged down just 0.06 per cent to 1114.61, and the Nasdaq Composite Index inched up just 0.05 of a point to 2305.93.

- NZPA