Stocks on Wall Street erased their gains on Wednesday despite a court ruling in Germany in favour of the eurozone bailout fund.
Investors are now looking ahead to a Federal Reserve meeting which could decide on more stimulus measures.
Apple's shares fell 9.5% after the company unveiled its iPhone 5, calling it the thinnest , fastest and lightest handset yet.
The Dow Jones Indexup closed up 9 points at 13,333 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 9 points, at 3114.
European markets heaved a sigh of relief after the German court ruling. The DAX in Frankfurt was up 0.46% and the CAC40 in Paris was up 0.18%, but the FTSE100 in London was down 0.17%
Shares of BAE Systems soared in London after reports that the British defence contractor is in talks with the EADS aircraft group about a possible merger. EADS shares in Paris fell 6%.
The Australian 200 Index closed on Wednesday up 35 points, or 0.82%, to 4,361 and the NZX 50 index rose 45 points, or 1.2%, to close at 3790.
At 8.30am on Thursday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 81.95 US cents, 78.35 Australian cents, 50.90 pence, 63.80 yen and 0.6355 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 72.75.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US115.34 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1732.51 per ounce.
