KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket retreated back into bear mode this morning, after a few days respite.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 15 points to 3133 at 10.20am.
On Wall Street, United States stocks slipped as oil turned higher after last week's sharp drop and Merck and Schering-Plough hurt the pharmaceuticals sector.
Bank stocks added to last week's gains and kept the broader market's losses in check, after Bank of America joined its rivals Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup in reporting unexpectedly strong results.
Market leader Telecom led the downtrend, falling 6c to 339.
Contact Energy, which yesterday rose 44c after the Takeovers Panel said it was looking for an independent expert in the event a takeover of Contact's parent triggered a takeover of Contact, was also off 5c to 801.
Fletcher Building fell 4c to 647.
NZX was up 25c to 675 while Sky City was up 3c to 295, Pike River Coal up 5c to 205 and The Warehouse was up 2c to 390.
On the downside, TrustPower was down 4c to 750, and PGG Wrightson was down 3c to 242.
Sealegs jumped 3c to 48 on a small parcel of shares traded.
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In the US, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 29.23 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 11,467.34.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.68 of a point, or 0.05 per cent, to 1260. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 3.25 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 2279.53.
- NZPA
