New Zealand shares fell 1.3 per cent on the open, joining a global rout on speculation the U.S. is heading back into recession. Fletcher Building and Pumpkin Patch paced the slide.
The NZX 50 Index fell 42.89 points to 3243.56 after five minutes of trading.
Telecom was the only gainer, after posting earnings that beat some estimates.
In the U.S., the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 4.5 per cent and gold soared to a new record after U.S. Mid-Atlantic factory activity slumped to a 2 ½-year low and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank Index of business activity fell to the lowest level since March 2009.
Fletcher Building slid 3 per cent to $7.71 and Pumpkin Patch declined 3.9 per cent to $1.
APN News & Media, which wrote down the value of its New Zealand newspapers yesterday, declined 4.8 per cent to $1. Telecom rose 1.5 per cent to$2.64.
