KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket continued downward today in early trade.
After falls in the three previous days, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down a further 7.69 points to 3583.65 by 10.15am today.
Top stock Telecom was the main drag on the market, losing 4c early to 390, while Fletcher Building was down 3c to 786.
Also dropping was Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which shed 4c to 270, and Sky TV was down 3c to 456.
On the other side of the ledger Contact Energy was up 2c early to 899, and The Warehouse up 7c to 545.
Shares in aged care provider Ryman Healthcare were up 2c to 180, after lifting 4c yesterday on a 22 per cent rise in annual net profit to $72.6 million.
Rakon was unchanged early on 327, after losing 3c yesterday on a 4 per cent rise in annual net profit to $10.9 million.
The sharemarket was seen to be following offshore trends, rather than reacting to yesterday's budget in the way some other markets did, which included a US1c surge in the value of the NZ dollar on the foreign exchange market.
While aspects of the annual budget had already been announced, the multi-year, $10.6 billion programme of tax cuts was bigger than many expected.
* * *
US stocks rose modestly after two days of steep declines as energy prices pulled back from record highs and a proposed acquisition in the utilities sector buoyed optimism.
Power producer Calpine Corp rose more than 8 per cent a day after NRG Energy Inc made an unsolicited bid to buy the company for about US$11 billion ($14.2 billion).
In positive news about the US economy, weekly jobless claims fell by 9000 to the lowest level in a month.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.19 per cent to close at 12,625.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 0.26 per cent to 1394.35, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.67 per cent at 2464.58.
- NZPA