KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket hovered in early trading on the eve of the Waitangi Day holiday weekend The benchmark NZX-50 index slipped about 3 points in light trading, a fall of only 0.107 per cent after opening at 2768.618 points.
It closed yesterday down 11.669 points, or 0.42 per cent, on turnover of $87.82 million.
Thin initial trade among leading stocks this morning included Telecom, up 1c at $2.65, and Sky TV up 2 at $4.24, while PostiePlus rose 1 c to 30c.
Falls included The Warehouse, down 5 to $3.65, and Infratil down 1c to $1.75. Sky City fell again today, by 3c to $3.06.
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In the US, stocks were also down, with a glum profit forecast from Kraft Foods that consumers are skimping even on the basics and investors worried that efforts to rescue banks could wipe out shareholders.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 121.62 points, or 1.51 per cent, to 7956.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 6.34 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 832.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 1.25 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 1515.05.
- NZPA
