Wellington, Jan 20 NZPA - The New Zealand sharemarket was down on opening after falling before close last night ahead of inflation data due out this morning.

The NZSX-50 was down 25.886 points, or 0.942 percent, to 2722.089 at 10.15am from 2747.98 at 5pm yesterday.

Contact Energy led the fall, down 65c, or 8.84 percent, to 670 after announcing it expected underlying earnings after tax for the current financial year to be 20 to 23 percent lower than in the last financial year.

Sky City was down 3c to 306, Restaurant Brands 1c to 65, Property Index 1c to 108, Rakon 1c to 114.

Fletcher Building was up 4c to 589, Telecom 1c to 235, Trust Power 10c to 720, Sky TV 9c to 394, Auckland Airport 1c to 181, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare 2c to 322 and Tourism Holdings 3c to 71.

Infratil remained unchanged at 163 following news that chief executive Lloyd Morrison was stepping down from the business for a period of medical leave, after being diagnosed with a form of leukaemia for which he has started treatment.

The market was waiting for Consumer Price Index inflation figures due out at 10.45am today.

Wall Street was closed today for the Martin Luther King Junior public holiday. Tomorrow all eyes will be on the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.

NZPA WGT kc gt