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The New Zealand sharemarket slid in early trading, after stocks in the United States tumbled at the end of last week with the Dow industrials ending at a more than six year low.
Stock exchange operator NZX was down 10c early to $5.50, on low volume, despite reporting a 17 per cent rise in full year net profit to $10.2 million.
After an initial 4c lift, Sky City Entertainment Group shares were down 3c in the first few minutes to $2.69, having reported a slightly lower underlying half-year net profit of $55.6m.
Among leading shares, Fletcher Building was down 9c early to $5.36, Contact Energy was down 4c to $6.06 and Telecom was down 2c to $2.36.
Around 10.20am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 15.1 points to 2561.58, having closed down 40 points on Friday.
Other stocks to fall early included Port of Tauranga, down 10c to $5.50, Nuplex down 5c to $1.40, Tourism Holdings down 4c to 51, and NZ Refining down 3c to $6.72.
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The fall in US stocks on Friday came amid fears the government may be forced to nationalise some big banks.
Uncertainty about how Washington will rescue beleaguered banks persisted even as the White House issued its most direct statement yet on banks, saying it supported a privately held banking system.
The S&P 500 had plunged close to a 12-year low before the White House statement.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.3 per cent to close at 7365.67, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended down 1.1 per cent at 770.05, and the Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 0.11 per cent to 1441.23.
For the week, the Dow fell 6.2 per cent; the S&P 500 slid 6.9 per cent; and the Nasdaq tumbled 6.1 per cent.
Investors view the stabilisation of the banking sector as crucial for the economy to avert further deterioration, with both businesses and consumer lending still constrained.
- NZPA
