KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket opened lower, led down by Telecom which today announced it will spend $574 million on a new mobile network.
The early fall on the market also followed a slump in United States shares which gave up some ground following yesterday's leap, on renewed fears of global recession.
Telecom shares lost 9c, or 3.5 per cent early, to 249 after a 10c gain yesterday.
Around 10.20am the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 22.15 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 2926.83. Yesterday it gained 6 per cent or 167 points.
Despite the overall decline, many shares were gaining early, with Rakon up 8c to 228, although on low volume.
Nuplex was up 3c to 563, Pike River Coal gained 2c to 153, Ebos Group was up 3c to 438, Cavalier Corp lifted 5c to 260, Hallenstein Glasson was up 5c to 260, and Michael Hill International rose 3c to 75.
Stocks rising 1c included Air NZ, to 90, Fisher & Paykel Appliances to 150, NZ Oil & Gas to 126, Sky City to 311, and Tourism Holdings to 110.
Along with Telecom, stocks to fall early included Trustpower, down 5c to 725, and Contact Energy down 12c to 735.
In the US, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average leaped 936.42 points in its biggest one-day point gain ever, it lost 0.8 per cent, to 9310.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.5 per cent to 998.01, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 3.5 per cent to 1779.01.
Investors looked past the US pledge to pour US$250 billion ($407.1 billion) into major banks and instead focused on the dismal outlook for earnings and the economy.
- NZPA