KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket started lower today but the early fall was less dramatic than the plunge in US stocks in last week's final session.
Around five minutes after the market's 10am opening, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 16.84 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 4229.17.
That follows a 2.1 per cent fall on Friday because of a rattled US market and dropping kiwi dollar.
The Friday fall in this country was seen as an indication of foreign selling, particularly among blue chip stocks, as investors look to exit New Zealand equities and the New Zealand dollar.
Then overnight Friday and early Saturday (NZT) US stocks plummeted for a second day in a row as investors continued to recoil over credit concerns reverberating through financial markets around the world.
Worries over a possible credit crunch overwhelmed data from the US government showing second-quarter US growth that was the strongest in over a year.
In a scramble for safety, investors put money into the safe haven of US government bonds.
Driving the reallocation are fears that the US housing market's troubles, including a crisis in the subprime mortgage sector, may be turning into a broader credit crunch.
Early falls on the New Zealand stock exchange today, included a 6c drop top stock Telecom to 464, following on from a 12c fall on Friday that took the shine off recent improvements.
Fletcher Building was down 6c early to 1250, following a 42c descent on Friday, while Contact Energy rose 3c to 950, after an 18c fall on Friday.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances slipped 5c to 350, but F&P Healthcare was up 5c to 331,
Other early falls included Auckland International Airport, down 2c to 330, Freightways 4c to 400, Infratil 5c to 310, Property for Industry 1c to 140, Pumpkin Patch 4c to 341, Sky City 7c to 485, Trustpower 10c to 820 and Tower 3c to 240.
Stocks to rise early included Guinness Peat Group up 2c to 192, Sky TV 1c to 560, and The Warehouse 2c to 609.
In last week's final session in the US, the Dow Jones industrial average sank 1.54 per cent to end at 13,265.47. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 1.6 per cent to finish at 1458.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.43 per cent, to close at 2562.24.
For the week, the blue-chip Dow average fell 4.2 per cent, while the S&P 500 lost 4.9 per cent and the Nasdaq dropped 4.7 per cent.
- NZPA