KEY POINTS:
For the second Monday in a row, the New Zealand and Australian sharemarkets have begun the week reeling, after a dramatic sell-off in US stocks over the weekend has triggered a minor collapse in share prices.
Sharp falls on Wall St last Friday have ravaged stockmarkets in Auckland and Sydney on opening this morning, both markets plunging by almost two per cent today in early trade.
Top stock Telecom opened the week with a further share price fall, having lost 3.4 per cent on Friday after releasing its annual profit figures.
Soon after the market's 10am opening Telecom shares were down 7c to 425, on top of the 15c loss on Friday.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 59.03 points, or 1.4 per cent, to 4063.38 about 10.25am, following on from a sharp slide in US markets in last week's final session.
Across the Tasman, at 12.15pm (NZT), the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had dropped 114.5 points, or 1.9 per cent, to 5906.5 while the All Ordinaries was 110.8 points, or 1.83 per cent weaker to 5945.1.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the September share price index contract had lost 83 points to 5,893 on a volume of 9806 contracts.
ABN Amro Morgans adviser Lisa Jarvis said from Sydney that the troubles in the US, and their effect on the local market were more protracted than first thought.
"We thought we'd have a few days down and bounce back," she said.
"Maybe the rest of August could be a little bit weaker, and not looking for any kind of resurgence until some time in September.
"The fallout is probably going to continue for a little bit longer."
The volatility of the past few days had begun to buffet local investor confidence, she said.
"These 100, 200 point swings we've been seeing are probably scaring a few traders at the moment," she said.
"They're probably waiting for it find a floor, but we're not sure when that will occur."
In New Zealand, shares in Auckland International Airport were down 19c, or 5.8 per cent, to 309 early, after Trade Minister Phil Goff said on the weekend that the Government agreed with opponents of a $2.6 billion takeover of the airport by a Dubai company.
Freightways dropped 8c to 377 after today reporting a 3 per cent increase in annual profit to $25.09 million and a 10 per cent rise in operating revenue to $283m in the year to June 30.
Other stocks to fall early included Contact Energy down 10c to 920, Fletcher Building down 14c to 1236, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare down 2c to 327, Guinness Peat Group down 5c to 180, Infratil down 5c to 285, Pumpkin Patch down 5c to 325, Sky City down 13c to 460, Sky TV down 4c to 525, Tower down 7c to 220, and The Warehouse down 5c to 620.
Among the few stocks to rise early were Restaurant Brands, up 2c to 86, Ryman Healthcare up 2c to 211, and Property for Industry up 2c to 141.
US stocks slid sharply on Friday after Bear Stearns said credit markets were in their worst shape in two decades, while jobs data aroused further concerns about weakness in the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 2.09 per cent to 13,181.91. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 2.66 per cent to 1433.06. The Nasdaq Composite Index sank 2.51 per cent to 2511.25.
The day's sell-off ended a week of wild market swings, pushing all indexes firmly down into negative territory for the week -- the Dow fell 0.7 per cent, while the S&P 500 shed 1.8 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 2 per cent.
- NZPA