NZ Shares: Local market edges lower early

The New Zealand sharemarket edged lower in early trading as top stock Telecom slipped from its highest level in nearly six weeks reached yesterday.

Telecom was down 2c early to $2.67, after yesterday getting as high as $2.70 and closing up 10c.

Yesterday Telecom's competitors were critical of a Commerce Commission decision on sub-loop costs, which they said would make it unviable for competitors to unbundle all but a few of Telecom's cabinets.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 2.53 points to 2795.72, having yesterday added 20.2 points, mainly due to strength in Telecom and Fletcher Building shares.

Early today Fletcher Building added a further 1c to $6.46, after adding 9c yesterday when $45 million worth of shares in the company were traded.

Among stocks rising early, Mainfreight lifted 20c to $4.45, NZ Refining Co gained 5c to $7.50, Sanford was up 3c to $5.53, and Hellaby Holdings was up 3c to $1.13.

Among shares falling early, Ebos Group was down 5c to $5.30, Contact Energy lost 3c to $5.75, and Rakon was down 2c to $1.55.

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In the United States, the Dow and S&P 500 gained , breaking a three-day losing streak, as data on the job market and regional manufacturing revived hopes that the recession-hit economy was stabilising.

Financials supported the stock market after being among the week's biggest drags.

Data showed the number of people staying on jobless benefits fell for the first time since January, while manufacturing in the US Mid-Atlantic region contracted much less than expected.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.7 per cent to 8555.60, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.8 per cent to 918.37, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was off just 0.02 per cent, at 1807.72.

- NZPA