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The New Zealand sharemarket skidded lower in early trade after steep falls in United States equities.
Among leading stocks Fletcher Building was down 14c early to 575, Contact Energy lost 10c to 740, and Telecom fell 2c to 233.
Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 24.07 points, or 0.9 per cent, taking it to 2740.17, following a 19.1 point fall yesterday.
Among the few stocks to rise early today Mainfreight was up 10c to 490 and Tourism Holdings was up 4c to 75, but both were on light volume.
Many more stocks fell in the first few minutes after the market opened. Those down 5c included Steel & Tube to 310, Sky TV to 375, NZ Refining Co to 580 and Hallenstein Glasson to 215.
Early 2c losses were recorded for Pike River Coal, taking it to 99, NZ Oil & Gas to 126, and Sky City to 308.
Dual-listed bank Westpac lost 81c to 1999, with ANZ down 50c to 1830.
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In the US, stocks tumbled in their worst decline in more than a month after a grim private-sector jobs report coupled with a revenue warning from chip maker Intel Corp revived concerns about the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average provisionally ended down 2.7 per cent, the S&P 500 Index down 3 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index down 3.2 per cent.
- NZPA