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The New Zealand sharemarket was slightly lower again on open today as a simultaneous interest rate cut by world central banks failed to relieve pressure on international markets.
It has treaded water this morning, with the NZX-50 essentially unchanged at 2944, down 3 points, a drop of just .1 per cent. It closed last night at 2948.31.
Top stock Telecom is down 5c at $2.62, Contact Energy is down 4c at $7.36 and Fletcher Building shares are up 9c at $6.45.
Local speculation is that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand may follow the Reserve Bank of Australia's lead and cut the official cash rate by 100 basis points, or at least 75, on October 23.
The US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, Bank of England and central banks in Sweden, Canada and Switzerland all joined the new interest rate offensive, cutting rates by half a percentage point overnight. China joined in cutting 27 basis points off its key rate.
But while the move brought temporary respite, London's main index soon fell back again and US stocks endured another rollercoaster ride, while Tokyo saw its biggest one-day fall in two decades.
In early morning trading locally, Telstra was down 10c to 480, Sanford 14c to 545, Port of Tauranga 7c to 628, Nuplex 5c to 560 and Hallenstein Glassons 4c to 250.
The Warehouse was up 41c to 350 after it announced it was canning its Extra format stores.
Fellow retailer Michael Hill was up 2c to 75, Freightways up 5c to 305, Fisher & Paykel Health 1c to 301 and Kiwitrust 2c to 120.
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US stocks fell for a sixth straight session on Wednesday, as the co-ordinated worldwide cut in interest rates failed to alleviate fears about a global recession.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 189.01 points, or 2.00 per cent, to 9258.10, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 11.29 points, or 1.13 per cent, to 984.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 14.55 points, or 0.83 per cent, at 1740.33.
- NZPA
