The New Zealand and Australian markets were down slightly at the close of trade on Wednesday.
The benchmark New Zealand index was 1 point lower to 2811 on turnover of $93 million.
Telecom was up 5 cents at $2.63, Contact Energy fell 7c to $6.05 and Fletcher Building was down 4c to $6.71.
The Australian share market closed weaker in light trading as investors showed caution after recent gains and the digestion of Tuesday's federal budget.
At 1615 AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 21.1 points, or 0.54%, at 3856.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index also dropped 21.1 points, or 0.55% to 3842.5.
In Japan, shares closed up 0.45%, reversing early losses as investor sentiment remained upbeat despite a mixed performance on Wall Street and weak corporate earnings results.
The Nikkei-225 index rose 41.88 points to 9,340.49. The broader Topix index of all first section shares gained 3.32 points, or 0.37%, to 888.75.
