Shares fall in early trade

The New Zealand NZX-50 fell in early trading today with top stock Telecom leading the downward trend.

Telecom was down 1c to 42.66, with 1.35 million shares traded .

Fletcher Building slid 5c to $6.50, Sky City fell 1c to $2.64, NZ Refining fell 5c to $6.85, Sky Network Television fell 1c to $4.10.

Contact stayed at $5.63.

The benchmark NZX-50 index opened at 2738.282 , after unspectacular trading on Friday, then dropped to 2735.235, or 3.047 points within three minutes .

Shares showing early upward movement included Mainfreight, gaining 3c to $4.23, ING Medical, up 1c to $1.17 and Guinness Peat Group, up 1c to 66. Sanford gained 4c to $5.20 and Restaurant Brands gained 3c to $1.04.

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When US markets closed last week, trading was choppy in light volumes for most of the day as investors remained cautious ahead of more corporate earnings reports in the coming weeks.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.1 per cent to 8183.17, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.4 per cent to 882.68, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.3 per cent to 1752.55.

- NZPA