The New Zealand sharemarket has followed declines on Wall St and Europe, with the benchmark NZX50 index closing on Wednesday down 11 points, or 0.3%, at 3280 on turnover of $67 million.
Fletcher Building shed 7c to $8.28, Telecom 1c to $2.18 and Contact Energy 4c to $6.18. Sky Network Television was down 5c at $5 even but Sky City Entertainment nudged up 2c to $3.17.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare dropped 2c to $3.47 and Nuplex 3c to $3.35. Pumpkin Patch was down 10c to $2.11, Kathmandu 8c to $2.31 and the Warehouse 5 to $3.79.
On currency markets, the NZ dollar fell from its three-month high against the US dollar on Tuesday to 71.52 US cents, as investors flocked to safe-haven currencies like the US dollar. It was also fetching 77.65 Australian, 46.82 pence, 66.60 yen and .5420 euro, with the TWI 66. 80.
The Australian share market also closed firmly lower: the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 57.2 points, or 1.17%, to 4822.8, while the broader All Ordinaries index dipped 59.1 points, or 1.2%, to 4854.2.
