Wall Street had a late sell-off on Friday after a Bloomberg report about slow February sales at Wal-Mart triggered a slide in shares in the company.
The Dow Jones Index rose 8 points to 13,981. The Nasdaq Composite fell six to 3,192
Main stock markets in Europe retreated on Friday while the US dollar and euro rose against the yen as G20 finance ministers met in Moscow amid growing talk of currency wars.
In Australia, the ASX 200 index gained 33 points to finish at 5,037 - its highest for 4½ years. The NZX 50 index fell 42 points, to close at 4196.
At 8.30am on Monday, the New Zealand dollar was buying 84.41 US cents, 81.93 Australian cents, 54.42 pence, 78.93 yen and 0.6323 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was 76.78.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US118.54 per barrel and gold was trading at $1609.19 per ounce.
