The sharemarket fell in early trading, after a decline in technology stocks helped drag market indexes lower in the United States.
Among leading stocks Contact Energy was down 5c to $5.60 shortly after the market opened, Fletcher Building lost 8c to $5.05, and Telecom eased 2c to $2.35.
Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 12.56 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 2456.62, having lost 1.9 points yesterday in a near-flat performance that followed similar market performances overseas.
Other early losses today included Fisher & Paykel Healthcare down 4c to $3.38, Steel & Tube down 3c to $2.70, and Rakon down 3c to 91c.
Shares to rise early included NZX, up 5c to $5.25, Hellaby Holdings up 2c to 45c and NZ Oil & Gas up 2c to $1.37.
* * *
In the US, investors wrote off rare dealmaking as moves borne more of necessity than opportunity as drugmakers Merck and Schering-Plough announced plans to combine in a US$41 billion ($84.6b) deal.
Uneasiness about the economy also eclipsed a bounce in troubled financial stocks.
Preliminary data showed the Dow Jones industrial average closing down 1.2 per cent, the Standard & Poor's 500 index down 1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite index down 2 per cent.
- NZPA
<i>NZ stocks:</i> Sharemarket falls early
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.