Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were down on Wednesday following a weaker result on Wall Street.
Mixed corporate earnings in the United States and gloomy outlooks reminded investors of economic troubles despite massive actions by governments to combat the financial meltdown.
The New Zealand benchmark index was down 52 points, or 1.7%, to 2899 on turnover of $50 million.
Telecom was unchanged at $2.44, while fellow top stocks Contact Energy slid 24 cents to $7.31 and Fletcher Building was down 33c to $6.12.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances was down 3c to $1.31 while Fisher & Paykel Healthcare lost 10c to $3.17 after adding more sleep disorder products to compete at the top end of the market.
Auckland Airport was down 2c to $1.83 after raising $80 million from retail investors in a bond isuse less than a week after it opened.
At 5.20pm on Wednesday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 61.77 US cents, 88.54 Australian, 35.92 pence, 62.85 yen and 0.4631 euro. The Trade Weighted Index stood at 61.21.
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 231.77 points, or 2.5%, to 9,033.66 and the broad Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 30.35 points, 3.08%, to 955.05.
Australian stocks lower
Australian stocks were lower following the weak Wall Street lead and a falling Australian dollar.
At 1615 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 146.4 points, or 3.4% , at 4156.1, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 131.4 points, or 3.09%, to 4120.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index futures contract was 174 points lower at 4,163 on a volume of 24,871 contracts.
At 1615 AEDT, spot gold was trading in Sydney at $US762.00 an ounce, down $US31.00 on Tuesday's close of $US793.
Asian shares tumble again
Japan's Nikkei share index tumbled 6.79% by the close of trade, hit by growing fears of a global recession and a stronger yen, which is bad for exporters.
South Korean shares closed 5.1% lower, at their lowest level for three years, on growing fears about the health of the world economy. The KOSPI index ended down 61.51 points at 1,134.59.
