Sharemarket falls early

The New Zealand sharemarket fell in early trading, as shares in NZ Refining Co slipped further.

Yesterday it was announced that the NZ Superannuation Fund and Infratil are negotiating with Shell over possibly buying Shell New Zealand's refining, and distribution and retailing businesses. That includes a 17.1 per cent stake in the refining company.

After the announcement, NZ Refining Co shares fell 9c yesterday, while early today they declined a further 9c, or 1.8 per cent, to $5.02.

Shares in Contact Energy were also down 9c, to $601, but on limited volume.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 12 points to 3146.99, a four-week low, having already lost 56.7 points in the first two trading days of November.

Fletcher Building was down 8c to $8.03, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare lost 3c to $3.05, Sky TV fell 3c to $475, Port of Tauranga slipped 2c to $7.00, and Tower was down 2c to $1.70.

Shares rising early included Tourism Holdings up 2c to 72c, and Michael Hill International up 2c to 66c.

* * *

In the United States, the Dow dipped while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose slightly.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp in a deal that values the railroad company at US$34 billion ($47.8b).

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.1 per cent at 9780.75, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.4 per cent at 1045.77, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.2 per cent at 2052.69.

- NZPA