Wall Street has fallen for the third consecutive day, after weak labour market data added to fears about the strength of the recovery.
The Dow Jones Index closed down 58 points on Thursday, at 10,319. The Nasdaq Composite has shed 18 points, to close at 2190.
European shares edged higher. In London, the FTSE 100 closed up 20 points at 5,266.
Earlier, the Nikkei in Tokyo ended on 9,212, down 80 points. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong closed on 21,105, down 188 points.
Across the Tasman, the Australian 200 Index closed down 54 points, at 4400.
The NZX 50 closed down 29 points, at 3006 on turnover of $43 million.
At 8.06am on Friday, the New Zealand dollar was buying 70.89 US cents, 79.16 Australian cents, 45.52 pence, 60.90 yen and 0.5528 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 66.29.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US77.28 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1214.55 per ounce.
