The NZX 50 index fell 31 points, or just under 1 percent, to 3421 on Tuesday after trending down for over a month.
Telecom fell 10 cents to $2.43, and its offshoot Chorus dropped 9 cents to $3.19, while Contact Energy fell 2 cents to $4.79.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances fell 3 cents to 51 cents, Sky City Entertainment fell 9 cents to $3.44, and Sky Television finished down 3 cents at $4.90.
Metlifecare finished the day unchanged at $2.08 after an appraisal report said Metlifecare's proposed takeover bid for two retirement village competitors is fair to investors.
Fletcher Building rose 12 cents to $6.14, gold miner OceanaGold jumped 25 cents to $2.55.
Nuplex rose 2 cents to $2.23 despite announcing that its its full-year gross earnings will be flat, because of weak manufacturing and construction markets in Australasia.
Telstra rose 5 cents to $4.69 after announcing talks to sell its NZ subsidiary TelstraClear to Vodafone, but t stresses there's no certainty a deal will be reached.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 4 cents to $2.08.
Australia's Reserve Bank cut its official cash rate by 25 basis points in a bid to calm households and non-mining sectors.
An official cash rate of 3.5% is the lowest level on that side of the Tasman since November 2009.
In currency markets, the kiwi finished the local business day at 75.74 US cents, 77.52 Australian cents, 49.21 pence, 59.36 yen, 0.6050 of a euro, and the TWI was at 69.1 points.
