KEY POINTS:
Shares in The Warehouse bounced in early trade today after yesterday's plunge which followed a court ruling preventing takeover bids for the retail chain from supermarket operators.
Shortly after the market opened today, Warehouse shares were up by 24c, or 7.5 per cent, to 346, having lost 60c by the end of yesterday.
Despite that lift, the market as a whole was down, with the benchmark NZSX-50 index off 8.5 points to 3327.77 around 10.20am.
Today's softness comes after two days of strong rises which have pulled the index up from around 3235 points.
It follows a fall in US stocks , led by Exxon Mobil after its earnings fell short of Wall Street's expectations and as disappointing economic data revived fears of a US recession.
"(US) Investors are on edge," said Alan Lancz, president of Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc, an investment advisory firm, based in Toledo, Ohio. "This morning's economic numbers were disappointing. Unemployment is a concern."
On the New Zealand market, No1 stock Telecom was down 3c early to 378, with Fletcher Building also down 3c, to 635, although Contact Energy was up 8c to 848.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 5c to 275, NZ Oil & Gas down 5c to 161, Nuplex down 5c to 545, Sanford down 5c to 535, and Sky City down 4c to 341.
Retailer Postie Plus Group was down 2c to 38, after today saying it would have a full year trading loss of between $6.5 million and $7.5 million.
Along with the gains for The Warehouse and Contact Energy, Steel & Tube was up 10c early to 315, and the NZ Wine Company was up 25c to 240.
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In the US, the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 1.78 per cent to 11,378.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 1.31 per cent to 1267.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.18 per cent to 2325.55.
For the month, the Dow was up 0.25 per cent, while the Nasdaq finished July up 1.42 per cent. The S&P 500 lost 1 per cent in July.
- NZPA
