KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket fell further in early trading today after losing nearly 1 per cent yesterday.
The NZSX-50 index was down 6.83 points to 4133.36 at 10.15am.
The market has been falling on profit taking, the effects of the high dollar and profit downgrades.
Market leader Telecom held steady on 496 today after dropping 11c yesterday. Contact Energy, which took a 17c tumble yesterday, was also steady, on 865 while Fletcher Building was down 1c to 1091.
Pumpkin Patch was down 7c to 458 after the children's clothing company reported a 6.4 per cent rise in net profit after tax to $15.5 million for the six months to the end of January.
Jewellery retailer Michael Hill was up 10c to 820, Nuplex down 9c to 691 and TrustPower was up 8c to 860.
There were few other moves of note. Tower was up 5c to 270 and Skellerup was down 4c to 124.
Rakon was down 5c to 465.
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Wall Street was closed today for the President's Day holiday.
- NZPA