NZ shares fall early

The New Zealand sharemarket fell in early trading, dropping back towards the 10-month low reached on Thursday.

Around 10.20am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 9.42 points to 3045.34, after losing 6.5 points yesterday, apparently unable to leave behind Thursday's low around 2990.

Contact Energy lost 6c to $5.87, Nuplex was down 5c to $2.96, Fletcher Building lost 4c to $8.18 and Telecom slipped 1c to $1.86.

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After a holiday on Monday, trading was choppy in the United States for much of the day, a sign that investors weren't sure where to put their money. Investors were juggling worries about Europe's debt problems with upbeat reports on US manufacturing and construction.

Stocks took a late-day dive after the Government said it was starting criminal and civil investigations into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The plunge came shortly before the close and minutes after Attorney General Eric Holder made the announcement. Stocks in energy companies and oil service providers tumbled on the news, and other stocks followed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1.1 per cent to 10,024.02, the tech-rich Nasdaq index fell 1.5 per cent to 2222.33, and the S&P 500 index slipped 1.7 per cent to 1070.71.