KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket slipped in early trade today, with top stock Telecom pulling the market down.
About 10 minutes after the market's 10am opening, the NZSX-50 benchmark index was down 2.4 points to 4310.76.
Telecom was down 4c to 448 after being flat yesterday.
Sky City shares were down 3c early to 544, having added 7c yesterday, as investors considered the possibility two parties could be interested in buying the company.
Fletcher Building clawed back a little ground, rising 6c early to 1240 after profit-takers knocked 34c off the share price yesterday.
Air New Zealand gained 2c early to 213 after falling 13c yesterday as oil prices hit record highs.
Hellaby Holdings also gained 1c early to 281, Tenon lifted 3c to 175 and Trustpower was up 5c to 930.
Among stocks to fall early were ING Property Trust which was down 1c to 117, Property for Industry eased 2c to 141, Tourism Holdings was off 2c 246 and Tower was also down 2c, to 228.
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In the US, stocks were little changed overnight as optimism about technology profits helped cancel out worries about how much the credit crunch has hurt the economy, after disappointing earnings from Bank of America.
A fresh US oil price record added to investors' concerns about the outlook for consumer and business spending.
The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 0.03 per cent, to end at 13,888.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.08 per cent, at 1540.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.24 per cent, at 2799.31.
- NZPA