NZ Shares: Market down early after three days of gains

After solid gains on the past three trading days, the New Zealand sharemarket was down in the first few minutes of trading this morning, in the wake of tumbling stocks in the United States.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 11.15 points to 2829.48. Yesterday it gained 33.4 points and is up from 2722 at Thursday's close.

While top stock Telecom was up 3c early today to $2.62, Fletcher Building was down 8c to $6.90 after a 20c rise yesterday, and Contact Energy lost 10c to $5.90.

Other shares to lose ground early included Steel & Tube, down 7c to $2.85, Fisher & Paykel Appliances down 6c to $1.05, Sky TV down 5c to $4.45, NZ Oil & Gas down 3c to $1.57, and NZ Refining Co down 3c to $7.17.

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In the US, stocks tumbled, halting a four-day winning streak, as falling oil prices hit energy shares, while less upbeat economic reports rekindled worries about recovery prospects.

Investors took a one-two punch from data showing the vast US service sector contracted for the eighth straight month in May and from a report showing employers axed 532,000 private-sector jobs last month.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.8 per cent to 8675.24, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 1.4 per cent to 931.76, and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.6 per cent to 1825.92.

- NZPA