NZ sharemarket flat early

The New Zealand sharemarket was flat shortly after opening, with the main early move being a 1 per cent decline in the shares of Mainfreight.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 0.96 points to 3044.15, following on from a fall of 9.4 points yesterday.

Mainfreight shares were down 6c to $6.52, falling further away from the 22-month high of $6.80 reached early last week.

Sky City shares slipped 2c early to $3.05, while Contact Energy gained 3c to $5.70. Major stock Telecom was unchanged on $2.07, with Fletcher Building down 1c to $7.53.

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In the United States, stocks fell but closed off their lows after the Federal Reserve said it would take new steps to counter a weak recovery.

The Fed's Open Market Committee said in a post-meeting statement that it would begin funnelling proceeds from maturing mortgage bonds into longer term government debt to keep borrowing costs low.

The stock market's lukewarm response suggested investors didn't believe the actions would have much immediate impact on the weak labour market and slow consumer spending, two headwinds facing the recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.5 per cent at 10,644.25, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.6 per cent at 1121.06, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 1.2 per cent at 2277.17.

- NZPA