KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket slipped early, following in the footsteps of US equities, and as top stock Telecom shed 4c .
Around 10.10am today the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 4.71 points to 3314.51, having gained 16 points yesterday.
Telecom eased to 372, having trended upwards since mid-July when it was down to 325, and after a 9c rise yesterday ahead of its result on Friday.
Fletcher Building was also down early, off 2c to 626, while Hallenstein Glasson was down 5c to 280, NZ Oil & Gas was down 5c to 160.
Pike River Coal was down 2c to 203, despite announcing yesterday it had completed tunnelling through the Hawera Fault, which was a major hurdle at its new mine on the West Coast.
Carpet marker Cavalier Corporation gained early, lifting 5c to 245, continuing a good run that has seen the price lift from 210 a fortnight ago.
Also up early was Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, gaining 2c to 288, while Goodman Fielder was up 3c to 175, Guinness Peat Group up 2c to 144, and The Warehouse up 2c to 344.
US stocks fell as shares of energy and commodity-related companies tumbled on falling oil and metals prices and investors worried the housing slump could fuel further losses at financial companies.
The drop in the price of oil and other commodities was partly on concern that a global slowdown would blunt demand. The tone for the financial sector was set early in the session, after HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, reported a 28 per cent drop in first-half profit as it took a US$14 billion ($19.4 billion) hit from bad debts on US home loans and asset write-downs.
US economic data pointing to mounting inflation pressures added to the market's concerns, as did news that WCI Communities, a major US home builder, had filed for bankruptcy.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.37 per cent to 11,284.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 0.90 per cent to 1249.01, while the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.10 per cent, to 2285.56.
- NZPA