KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket continued this week's down trend in early trading today.
About 10 minutes after the exchange's 10am opening the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 9.15 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 4204.15.
That follows falls of 15.5 points yesterday and 17 points on Monday, amidst volatile world markets.
Top stock Telecom was down 2c in early trade today to 542, following an 11c drop yesterday after the Commerce Commission released proposed charges for access to the company's local network.
Contact Energy was down 3c to 922, on top of an 18c fall yesterday, with the company announcing it has filed resource consent applications for its proposed Te Mihi geothermal power station.
Mainfreight, which is taking control of a freight forwarding business in China, reversed yesterday's 4c gain to be at 754, while Freightways was down 2c to 399.
Among other early falls, Fletcher Building was down 4c early today to 1246, Auckland International Airport was down 1c to 331, Port of Tauranga lost 5c to 690, and Sky City eased 2c to 485.
Early gainers today included Trustpower up 5c to 840, Tourism Holdings up 4c to 250, Hallenstein Glasson up 5c to 465, and Air New Zealand up 1c to 268.
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In the US, stocks tumbled as worries about the deteriorating credit market resurfaced with news of another mortgage lending casualty.
US stocks had risen Monday and the first half of Tuesday's session, but the relief rally was cut short when American Home Mortgage Investment Corp said it may have to liquidate assets.
Investors remain sensitive to news about worsening lending conditions, which pummelled global equity markets last week.
In Tuesday's session, a jump in US crude oil futures also unnerved investors after the September contract ended above US$78 a barrel in New York in its highest settlement ever.
- NZPA