The New Zealand share market gained slightly on Thursday, after the country's central bank made an unprecedented cut to its benchmark interest rate.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand slashed 150 percentage points from its Official Cash rate from 6.5% to 5% - the lowest level in five years.
The NZX 50 was up 23 points, or 0.88%, to 2730 at the close of trade.
Central banks worldwide are responding to weak economic growth by cutting rates aggressively.
Australia kicked off the latest round of cuts on Tuesday, lowering its benchmark rate by 100 basis points to 4.25%, followed by the Bank of Thailand which reduced its key lending rate by one percentage point to 2.75% - its biggest cut in eight years.
Sweden cut interest rates by a record 175 basis points on Thursday, prompting speculation of dramatic cuts elsewhere in Europe.
The European Central Bank and the Bank of England were set to cut rates to their lowest levels in years on Thursday.
More gloomy news
Asia shares fell on as more bad news piled up for the global economy.
A corporate survey in Japan pointed on Thursday to a deeper recession than first thought, while Australia's vehicle sales slumped in November, in the latest signals that the global economic downturn is sparing few corners of the world.
Troubled Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse has said it is shedding another 5,300 jobs from its global workforce. Most of the jobs being lost are in investment banking. The firm has already shed 1,800 posts this year.
The Australian share market lost its earlier strong gains to close little changed after the miners dragged the bourse down on fears of more commodity price falls.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 1.4 points, or 0.04%, at 3,532.4, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 8.4 points, or 0.24%, to 3,468.1.
Japan's Nikkei average fell 1%, surrendering earlier gains. It dropped 79.86 points to 7,924.24. The broader Topix index of all first section issues lost 10.31 points, or 1.29%, to 788.88.
Major share indexes in South Korea and Taiwan fell more than 1% each and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.7%.
But shares in Shanghai rose 1.5%, as financial stocks benefitted from the government's liquidity measures on Wednesday and amid hopes for more economic stimulus measures.
Oil prices fell to below $US46 a barrel to almost four-year lows, as investors opt for safer-havens.
Although Wall Street shares rose on Wednesday for a second session, data showed big job losses among US employers and a slumping service sector, suggesting the worst may not be over for the world's largest economy.
Policy makers are also taking additional steps to stabilise their financial sectors. South Korea and China on Wednesday said they would pump more funds into their financial systems to ensure additional liquidity.