KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket was sliding in early trading, following world markets down as recession looms in the United States and Europe.
Far from a post-election rally in the US, stocks there now appear likely to retest recent lows - and possibly head even lower.
In this country, the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 47.4 points or 1.67 per cent to 2792.73.
Telecom was down 7c early to $2.20 after posting a 34 per cent fall in first quarter net earnings to $149 million, while reporting it has not yet experienced a significant impact from the economic downturn.
The company said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) of $466m for the three months to September were 3.3 per cent down on the equivalent quarter in 2007.
Among other leading stocks Fletcher Building lost 17c early to $5.94 and Contact Energy gave up 14c to $7.29.
Sky TV was down 10c to $3.75, after losing 25c, or 6.1 per cent, yesterday following the release of profit guidance for 2009 that was less than analysts' consensus forecast.
Mainfreight was down 10c to $5.19, NZX down 7c to $5.98, Nuplex down 7c to $5.18, NZ Oil & Gas down 6c to $1.30, and Sky City down 6c to $3.12.
Losing 5c early were Hallenstein Glasson, to $2.33, Pike River Coal to $1.18, and Steel & Tube to $2.95, while Fisher & Paykel Appliances dropped 4c to $1.51.
Carpet maker Cavalier Corporation was looking lonely with a 2c gain to $2.30, although the rise was made on low volumes.
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Overnight, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of European shares closed down 5.78 per cent, led by banks and energy shares.
The MSCI world equity index lost 4.77 per cent. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index closed down 6.53 per cent.
US stocks sold off in their worst two-day slide since October 1987 with disappointing corporate outlooks and bleak sales from major retailers fuelling fears of a deepening economic downturn.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 4.9 per cent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index sank 5 per cent , and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 4.3 per cent.
- NZPA
