The New Zealand sharemarket declined on Thursday, with the benchmark NZX 50 index dropping 22 points, or 0.7%, to 3144.
Of the major stocks, Fletcher Building fell 13c to $7.86, Telecom 5c to $2.49 and Contact Energy 14c to $6.
Sky City Entertainment ended up 1c down at $3.38, while Goodman Property Trust lost 2c to finish at $1.01 after making a $13.2m profit in the six months to September,
Stocks to gain included Fisher and Paykel Appliances (up 3c to $0.65), Fisher and Paykel Healthcare (up 6c to $3.18), Rakon (up 2c to $1.16) and Westpac (up 5c to $32.70).
Australian index hits two-month low
Across the Tasman, the Australian sharemarket fell to its lowest close in almost two months on fears that the global economic slump has a way to run and that high oil prices may dent company earnings.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 32.1 points, or 0.71%, at 4508, while the broader All Ordinaries dropped 28.4 points, or 0.62%, to 4519.2, the lowest since 7 September.
In currency markets late afternoon the NZ dollar was buying 71.92 US cents, 79.4 Australian, 43.55 pence, 65.05 yen and 0.4847 euro. The TWI was 64.64.