KEY POINTS:
Bargain hunters and gloom merchants vied for supremacy in early trading on the share market.
The gloom merchants won because the NZSX-50 benchmark index eased 2.189 points in early trading to 3590.60 after rising 59.22 points, or 1.6 per cent, yesterday.
Telecom was down 2c at 385, but Fletcher Building was up 3c at 898, adding to yesterday's 20c gain.
Contact Energy eased 1c to 821 and Sky City eased 2c to 391.
GPG eased 2c to 171, while Fisher and Paykel Appliances rose 1c to 238. Sky TV eased 3c to 475. The Warehouse eased 5c to 590.
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US stocks declined overnight after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said for the first time a recession was possible in the US. The big stocks like General Electric and IBM were most affected.
The Dow Jones industrial average declined 45.44 points, or 0.36 per cent, at 12,608.92.
- NZPA
