KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket started weaker today, with Fletcher Building and Contact Energy shares leading the market down.
By 10.25am the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 4.83 points to 3948.75, following a 57.2-point fall yesterday.
Of 51 stocks traded when the market opened, 21 fell and seven rose, on turnover of 6.13 million shares worth $25.5 million.
After a 19c fall yesterday, Fletcher Building shares shed another 6c in early trading today to 1113.
Contact Energy added to an 8c drop yesterday with a further 5c fall to 827, while Sky City was down 2c early to 440 after a 13c fall yesterday.
Nuplex was down 2c to 678, and Port of Tauranga down 5c to 670 -- both on light volume.
But amid the general lacklustre performance, Pumpkin Patch provided a glimmer of light adding 3c early to 260, and shortly after the market opened top stock Telecom lifted 2c to 426.
The stuttering start in this country came as overseas markets provided little guidance.
Britain's leading shares ended down 0.2 per cent overnight, reversing earlier gains, as fears of a US recession lingered and miners dragged on trading.
European shares ended a choppy session virtually unchanged as gains in defensive stocks such as telecoms and healthcare were eclipsed by a soft performance on Wall Street and a slide in crude oil.
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In the US, shares which had been little changed around 9am NZT, rose in the last hour of trading, led by healthcare and consumer staple shares, as investors poured into companies seen best able to withstand an economic slowdown following dismal employment data last Friday.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.21 per cent at 12,827.49. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.33 per cent at 1416.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.21 per cent at 2499.46.
- NZPA