KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket's droopy tone yesterday was unchanged in early trading today.
The NZSX-50 benchmarket index was down 4.9 points at 10.20am to 4055 -- exactly where it started in 2007 -- on light turnover of $24m. Falls outnumbered rises 15 to 12 among the 60 stocks traded.
L eader, Telecom, was down 2c to 436 after rising 6c yesterday on MSCI index-related buying.
Fletcher Building fell another 3c to 1162 to add to yesterday's 20c loss and Contact Energy, down 15c yesterday, fell another 1c to 854.
Rakon, which has been hit hard recently due to the high dollar, recovered 5c to 420.
ING Property was up 3c to 127, but there were no other moves in the top 50 over 2c.
Takeover target Abano Healthcare was up 8c to 478. The company, for which 19.9 per cent owner Masthead is bidding 500 a share for 51 per cent, yesterday said it expected a higher second half after it reported a 35 per cent lift in first half profit.
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On Wall Street, US stocks ended lower as financial shares fell on renewed concerns about the impact of the housing slump, while data showing a manufacturing slowdown renewed worries about the profit outlook.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 57.15 points, or 0.43 per cent, to end unofficially at 13,314.57. The Standard & Poor's 50 Index fell 8.72 points, or 0.59 per cent, to finish unofficially at 1472.42 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 23.83 points, or 0.90 per cent, to close unofficially at 2637.13.
- NZPA