The New Zealand sharemarket fell in early trade, following a big fall in equities in the United States, and after troubled South Canterbury Finance announced it was in receivership.Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 13.47 points to 3023.35
The New Zealand sharemarket fell in early trade, following a big fall in equities in the United States, and after troubled South Canterbury Finance announced it was in receivership.
Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 13.47 points to 3023.35, after gaining 29.4 points yesterday when it benefited from a rebound in offshore market sentiment.
But overnight worries about the pace of economic recovery in the US overshadowed data showing a rise in US consumer spending and income.
US consumer spending rose at the strongest pace in four months in July while a smaller rise in incomes was less than forecast. The expectation that data this week will confirm the US economy shed jobs in August also kept investors at bay.
In this country, Fletcher Building lost 9c early to 752, Ebos Group was down 5c to 670, The Warehouse fell 4c to 350, Hallenstein Glasson dropped 3c to 382, Sky TV fell 3c to 501, Sky City fell 2c to 288, Telecom was down 2c to 203, and Contact Energy slipped 1c to 565.
Shares rising early included Mainfreight, up 5c to 670, and Sanford up 2c to 398.
In the year's lightest volume on US markets, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 1.4 percent to 10,009.73, the Standard&Poor's 500 lost 1.5 percent to 1048.92, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6 percent to 2119.97.
