NZ share market falls 2.4 percent on opening

The New Zealand share market slumped 2.4 per cent in early trade on Monday in response to the historic US credit rating downgrade.
   The benchmark NZX 50 was down 79.5 points at 3,197.07 at about 10:20am (8.20am AEST) as the market reacted to Standard & Poor's decision to cut the US credit rating for the first time in history.
   Speaking shortly before the market opened, Prime Minister John Key said shares were likely to remain volatile in the medium term but New Zealand was in a good position to weather the turmoil created by the US downgrade.
   ``New Zealand is unquestionably in much better shape than many other countries,'' he told public radio.
   ``We'll be back in surplus within 2-3 years, our overall levels of government debt are still low... our unemployment levels are low relative to the developed world.''