Fears about the shrivelling US economy knocked share markets on Tuesday, with stocks in the Asia-Pacific region falling.
The one exception was Japan's Nikkei index, up 6.3%, as exporters gained on the yen's recent weakness.
In New Zealand, the NZX50 index fell 12 points, or 0.43%, to close at 2844 on turnover of $79 million.
Telecom was down 7 cents to $2.37, while Contact Energy fell 20c to $7.35 and Fletcher Building rose 4c to $5.84.
The slowdown in consumer spending is continuing to drag on sales at two of New Zealand's listed retailers. Hallenstein Glasson and Briscoe Group saw a fall in quarterly sales, and hope that Christmas trading will boost their sales.
Hallenstein Glasson slid 7c to $2.40 after the clothing retailer announced sales fell 6.7% in the three months to October.
Briscoe Group rose 4c to 84c as it reported that sales fell 11% to $77.8 milion in the October quarter compared with the same period a year ago.
The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its cash rate by a bigger-than-expected three quarters of a percentage point to 5.25% on Tuesday, weighing on the Australian dollar.
The Australian index finished hardly changed, cutting losses after the Reserve Bank of Australia's deep cut gave a boost to bank and retailer shares.
The S&P/ASX200 index was down 6.4 points, or 0.15%, at 4,215.1, while the All Ordinaries index had shed 3.2 points, or 0.08%, to 4,169.8.
Asia-Pacific stocks traded outside Japan slipped 0.8% percent, according to an MSCI index, snapping a five-day winning streak.
South Korea's KOSPI rose 2.2%, up for a second day after the government unveiled an additional $US11 billion in tax cuts and other measures to boost the economy.
