The New Zealand sharemarket edged lower in early trading, following falls in United States stocks after the Federal Reserve cut its forecasts for US economic growth this year and next, without hinting at further plans for stimulus.
The New Zealand sharemarket edged lower in early trading, following falls in United States stocks after the Federal Reserve cut its forecasts for US economic growth this year and next, without hinting at further plans for stimulus.
Shares in Australia's dominant phone company Telstra were also placed on a trading halt in this country when the NZX opened, pending a material announcement.
Australian news organisations have reported during the past week that Telstra is set to finalise a multi-billion dollar deal with the Australian government regarding that country's broadband plans.
In New Zealand the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 2.06 points to 3455.4 around 10.15am, having ended down 2.1 points yesterday.
Among the market leaders, Contact Energy was down 4c early to 547, Fletcher Building slipped 1c to 855, while Telecom was unchanged on 241.
Freightways lost 5c to 330, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 2c to 284, while Mainfreight gained 8c to 1018, OceanaGold added 6c to 325, and Tower lifted 3c to 158.
In the US, investors looking for a reason to sell received one from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, who had little positive to say at a news conference following a two-day Fed policy meeting.
"Everyone decided that was a 'sell' signal," said Albert Meyer, portfolio manager of Mirzam Capital Appreciation Fund in Plano, Texas.
"It's nothing new. We didn't expect anyone to come out and say the economy is growing."
The Dow Jones industrial average slid 0.7 percent to end at 12,109.67, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.7 percent to 1287.14, and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.7 percent to close at 2669.19.
