The local sharemarket continued to slide today because of fears about the coronavirus, with the NZ dollar also taking a tumble after the first case in this country was confirmed.
New Zealand's share market immediately fell two percent on opening Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
The benchmark top-50 Index closed down 176-points, a drop of just over 1.5 percent as investors kept selling because of fears about the coronavirus.
The market started the week at a record level but has fallen every day, losing nearly 7 percent since Monday.
The decline mirrored falls in markets around the world.
Analysts say selling has been fuelled by uncertainty about the impact of the virus on growth, as well as some lacklustre company earnings reports, and the volatility is expected to continue.
After the news late this afternoon that there was a case in New Zealand, the dollar fell about a quarter of a cent against the US dollar to a five-month low of 62.3 US cents.
It also fell by more than 1 percent against most other major currencies.