The sharemarket was on standby mode in early trading today with no clear steer from Wall Street and little local corporate news to drive stocks.
The NZSX-50 index, which yesterday lost 0.6 per cent, was down 3.3 points to 4296.82 at 10.20am.
Turnover was about average at $34mwith 13 rises and 14 falls among the 62 stocks traded.
Brokers said school holidays and an exodus of key players to the Rugby World Cup in Europe had dampened activity.
Telecom was unchanged on 457 after reaffirming its lower profit forecast at yesterday's shareholders meeting and new CEO Paul Reynolds saying he had no intention to sell off the network.
Contact Energy was also marooned on yesterday's closing price of 935 while Fletcher Building was down 1c at 1250.
NZ Refining was down 9c to 781 on lower oil prices and refining margins.
Top-10 lines company Vector was up 2c to 239 after losing 10c yesterday after the Commerce Commission said in a draft determination it would impose 15 per cent price reductions on its gas distribution business.
Pumpkin Patch was down 5c to 505 as was Ebos to 510.
Among the dual listed Australian stocks, ANZ was down 25c to 3575 and AMP down 10c to 1225.
* * *
In the US, stocks also barely budged as investors shied from making big bets before tomorrow's jobs data that could shed light on the economy and the outlook for interest rates.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 6.26 points to end at 13,974.31. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 3.25 points to 1542.84 and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 4.14 points to 2733.57.
