KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket eased in early business today following a sharp fall on Wall Street and after a big run in No 2 stock Fletcher Building took the index to a record close yesterday.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 10.31 points to 4241.09 at 10.20am. It rose as high as 4261.61 yesterday.
Brokers said the market had been driven up by merger mania.
Top stock Telecom eased back 3c to 483 after gaining 11c on the back of good-sized offshore buying.
Second-ranked Fletcher Building fell back 10c to 1179, having yesterday touched a record high of 1201. Analysts, who in February were predicting it would earn an annual net profit of $388m, now expect it to nudge $500m.
Contact Energy, which has lagged the market in recent weeks, was up 5c to 878.
The Warehouse was unchanged on 675 after it reported a 6.7 per cent rise in third quarter sales with same store sales up 5.8 per cent.
Turners Auctions dropped 4c to 131 after it reported yesterday it had uncovered a potential fraud of at least $1 million by a former employee, which was being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office.
Nuplex was down 8c to 740, Sky TV lost 5c to 600 while Goodman Fielder was up 5c to 280.
Among the small stocks Genesis Research was up 3c to 30c on light turnover.
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In the US, stocks slumped in their steepest fall in two months as disappointing retail sales and a widening trade deficit aroused worries about the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 147.74 points, or 1.11 per cent, to 13,215.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 21.11 points, or 1.4 per cent, to 1491.47 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 42.60 points, or 1.65 per cent, to 2533.74.
- NZPA