KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket drifted lower in early trading today despite a mildly positive session on Wall Street.
The NZSX-50, which yesterday rose 0.9 per cent, was down 7 points to 3612 at 10.15am.
Turnover was strong at nearly $50 million with 17 stocks up and 19 down among the 66 traded.
Telecom, which this week has been hovering near 15-year lows, today built on yesterday's 4c rise with another 3c gain to 398.
But No 2 stock, Fletcher Building lost 6c to 1005 after rising 32c yesterday. Contact Energy lost 8c of yesterday's 20c gain to be on 817.
Auckland Airport (AIA) was up 4c to 229 as the Canadian Pension Plan said they had 18.1 per cent of the company, up from 15.5 per cent the day before, as it moved toward its 40 per cent target.
NZ Oil & Gas was up 3c to 131.
Goodman Fielder, under pressure in recent days, fell 4c to 210, while Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 9c to 285.
Infratil fell 5c to 240 while Air NZ regained 2c to 149.
Finance company Dorchester Pacific, which yesterday plunged 13c, or 16.5 per cent, to a 10-year low, today fell another 5c, or 7.6 per cent, to 61c.
The company late last month downgraded its profit guidance, by up to half, citing reduced lending volumes, lower fee income and increased provisioning for its finance company.
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In the US, Wall Street ended higher as the market shook off a Federal Reserve survey stating that the US economy was sputtering on several fronts amid a long-running housing market slump.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 40.70 points (0.33 per cent) at 12,254.50 albeit off highs struck earlier in the day.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 12.53 points (0.55 per cent) to 2272.81 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 7.05 points (0.53 per cent) to a preliminary close of 1333.80.
- NZPA