NZ sharemarket flat early

The New Zealand sharemarket was flat in early trading as Fletcher Building shares continued to ease.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 0.92 points to 3233.64, having gained 4.4 points yesterday. Fletcher Building shares were down 4c early to 826 on top of a 2c fall yesterday, with the stock apparently undergoing a correction following recent price gains.

Shares in clothing retailer Hallenstein Glasson were unchanged early on $3.45 early after the company reported a 56 per cent rise in first half profit.

Stock in another retailer Kirkcaldie & Stains was down 20c to $2.65, while The Warehouse, which went ex-dividend today on a 17cps dividend, was down 18c to $3.81.

Steel & Tube fell 6c to $2.63 and Contact Energy was down 2c to $6.10. Telecom was flat near historic lows on $2.13. NZ Refining Co lifted 2c to $3.97.

***

In the United States, stocks fell as Portugal's credit rating downgrade and a weak Treasury note auction stirred concerns about sovereign debt.

Major indexes eased a day after hitting 18-month highs, with losses across most sectors on light volume. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.5 per cent to close at 10,836.15, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.6 per cent to end at 1167.72, and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.7 per cent to close at 2398.76.

- NZPA