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The New Zealand and Australian sharemarkets have opened sharply lower today, after Wall Street fell on US recession concerns.
Across the Tasman, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had fallen 85.5 points, or 1.18 per cent, to 5178.5, while the broader All Ordinaries had lost 80.1 points to 5288.8.
At 1015 AEDT on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index contract was down 79 points at 5187.
"We have another performance (like) last Friday, with banks and financials leading the market in all major sectors down," ABN Amro Morgans private client adviser Bill Bishop said.
"Following worse than expected US employment figures didn't help and we have had some bad headlines over the weekend adding to a rather nervous market today," he said.
In New Zealand, No 2 stock Fletcher Building continued its slide when the stock exchange opened today, dropping 17c early to 915.
The stock has fallen nearly $1 since last Wednesday, when it closed at 1011.
Overall, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 7.74 points to 3550.51 by 10.10am, after losing 45.58 points on Friday.
Top stock Telecom was down 1c to 388 after a 4c fall on Friday, while Contact Energy dropped 11c early to 820.
The continued slide comes after United States stocks closed down on Friday (local time), with a report showing that employers in the US have unexpectedly shed jobs at the steepest rate in nearly five years.
That was confirmation for many investors that the US was in recession.
Other stocks to fall early on the NZX today included Auckland International Airport down 3c to 225, Guinness Peat Group down 4c to 162, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare down 4c to 288, Nuplex down 6c to 640, and Rakon down 9c to 245.
The early risers included Port of Tauranga up 2c to 647, after a 10c fall on Friday, and Pumpkin Patch up 8c to 188 on light volumes.
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In the US the Dow Jones industrial average slid 1.22 per cent on Friday, to end at 11,893.69. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.84 per cent to 1293.37 - its lowest close since August 2006.
The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 8.01 points, or 0.36 per cent, to close at 2212.49.
For the week, the Dow finished down 3.04 per cent, the S&P 500 dropped 2.8 per cent - its second straight weekly decline - and the Nasdaq fell 2.6 per cent - its third straight weekly loss.
- NZPA, with AAP