KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket edged down in dull early trading today.
The NZSX-50 benchmark index was down 5.8 points to 4316.0 at 10.20am. Turnover was solid at $43 million and falls outnumbered rises 15-14 among the 50 stocks traded.
Top stock Telecom lost four of the five cents it gained yesterday to be on 448 and No 2, Fletcher Building, fell back 8c to 1260 after losing 9c yesterday.
No 3, Contact Energy was up 2c to 945 as investors became more comfortable with its $2-3b new generation building programme detailed this week.
In-play casino operator Sky City was up 2c to 542. Yesterday it announced a second mystery bidder was doing due diligence on the company. Trading was heavy in the stock.
Air NZ was down 4c to 220, responding to soaring oil prices and a lower kiwi dollar.
Michael Hill fell 24c to 1025 and has lost a dollar in a fortnight, mainly on profit taking after a big run up.
Carpet maker Cavalier was up 5c to 325, thanks to the lower dollar while PGG Wrightson was down 3c to 195.
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On Wall Street, the Nasdaq index rose 1 per cent, propelled higher on enthusiasm about the outlook for technology profits after strong results from bellwether companies Intel Corp and Yahoo Inc.
The technology sector's strong performance was not enough to fuel a rally in the broader market, though, with the Dow and S&P 500 ending little changed after the Federal Reserve sounded a note of caution on the economy.
- NZPA