NZX keeps on falling, down 2.5pc

The New Zealand sharemarket has continued to fall this morning, hitting a nine-month low as markets around the world also slipped on sovereign debt fears in Europe.

The benchmark NZX-50 index, which has been on a downward slide for the last month, closed 10.46 points lower yesterday. Today it has dropped another another 77 points, or 2.5 per cent, to 3034.

Telecom has fallen 6c to a historic low of $1.99.

NZX, the sharemarket company itself, has fallen 10c to $1.60 - a fall of nearly 6pc.

Fletcher Building has fallen 21c to $7.85, Auckland Airport is down 5c to $1.86. Contact Energy shares have fallen 10c to $5.94 and Sky City shares are down 6c to $2.87.

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US stocks dropped overnight, driving the Dow and the S&P 500 down more than 3 per cent and pushing the Nasdaq down more than 4 per cent, on growing fears that the euro zone's handling of its sovereign debt crisis could jeopardise the global economic recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 376.36 points, or 3.61 per cent, to end unofficially at 10,068.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 43.46 points, or 3.90 per cent, to close unofficially at 1,071.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 94.36 points, or 4.11 per cent, to finish unofficially at 2204.01.

Britain's top share index was 1.7 per cent lower by Thursday's local close. In a volatile session, the FTSE 100 ended down 84.95 points at 5073.13, its lowest close since February 5, having fallen 2.8 per cent on Wednesday.

Japan's Nikkei average hit a three-month closing low, after dropping below 10,000 at one point. The Nikkei shed 1.5 per cent to 10,030.31, its lowest finish since February 15.

Australian stocks yesterday slid 1.6 per cent to a fresh nine-month low, as hedge funds whittled down risk on their books, dumping the Aussie dollar and ditching their bets on takeover plays. The S&P/ASX 200 ended down 70.6 points at 4316.5, taking the week's loss so far to 6.4 per cent.

- WITH NZPA