KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket benchmark index retreated slightly in early business today after yesterday coming within 10 points of a new high.
The NZSX-50 index was off 7.7 points to 4324 at 10.20am, having risen 51 points, or 1.2 per cent, yesterday. The record high of 3343 was posted in late May.
Rises outnumbered falls 16-12 among the 62 stocks traded.
Market leader Telecom continued to underpin the market. It rose more than 2 per cent, or 12c, yesterday and today was up another 2c to 461.
No 3 stock Contact Energy, with a 13c fall to 935, helped pull the index down as did No 2 Fletcher Building, down 5c to 1272.
There was again heavy turnover in in-play casino operator Sky City, which eased back 5c to 580. It topped turnover at $15m and helped boost the overall market turnover to an impressive $60m.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances, which yesterday announced a strategic partnership with Europe's third largest appliance maker, Arcelik of Turkey, was down 5c to 353.
Other falls in the top 50 included BIL International, 4c to 115, Sky TV, 5c to 580, and Telstra, 4c to 505.
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In the US, blue-chip stocks fell as investors booked profits following a record reached in the previous session, but in the broader market, bank stocks and home builders gained as investors bet the worst of the credit squeeze may be over.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 40.24 points, or 0.29 per cent, to end at 14,047.31. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.41 of a point, or 0.03 per cent, at 1546.63. But the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 6.12 points to close at 2747.11.
- NZPA