The New Zealand sharemarket started flat, following in the wake of United States markets which ended slightly down after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Japan.
Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 1.93 points to 3448.43, having edged up just 0.48 points yesterday, with the market appearing to be consolidatingafter a period of recovery.
Contact Energy lost 3c early to 580, Fletcher Building dropped 2c to 933, and Telecom slipped 1c to 199.5.
Stocks making gains early included Mainfreight, up 5c to 925, after yesterday reaching an intraday record high of 930. Sanford lifted 7c to 560, Auckland Airport was up 2.5c to 220, and Ryman Healthcare gained 2c to 244.
In the United States, stocks fell in morning trading but pared losses after the impact of the latest Japanese quake appeared to be less than initially feared, despite striking near the same area as the massive quake that triggered devastating tsunami four weeks ago.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 0.1 percent to 12,409.49, the Standard & Poor's 500 fell 0.2 percent to 1333.51, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1 percent to 2796.14.
US economic news was also mostly positive. The 382,000 people applying for unemployment for the first time last week. That was the third drop in four weeks, suggesting layoffs are slowing.
Major retailers also reported better-than-expected sales for March at stores that have been open at least a year. Analysts had predicted declines because of cold weather and higher gas prices.
