The NZX 50 index fell 28 points on Tuesday to close at 3228 on turnover of $118 million.
Telecom was down 2c to $2.80, while Contact Energy was down 10c to $2.60 after saying it will double directors' fees.
Fletcher Building was down 2c to $7.30, Sky Network Television was down 14c to $4.50 and Air New Zealand was down 5c to $1.03. The Warehouse finished down 1c to $3.14.
The dollar was trading at 68.90 US cents, 82.03 Australian cents, 37.13 pence, 72.57 yen and 0.4661 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was 64.15
The Australian sharemarket closed down almost 2% amid uncertainty on the short-selling ban and concerns over the effectiveness of the US government's rescue plan.
The S&P/ASX200 index was down 97 points, or 1.93%, to 4923.5, while the All Ordinaries lost 92.4 points, or 1.83%, to 4957.7.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December shares price index contract was 36 points lower at 4,995, on a volume of 32,016 contracts.
