Stocks in the United States have fallen for a third day, as earnings and forecasts at technology and consumer-staples companies disappointed investors, wiping out an early advance.
The Dow Jones Index on Thursday was down 43 points, to 10,455. The Nasdaq Composite was down 20 points to 2245.
European shares closed lower with big banks among the biggest fallers.
The FTSE 100 in London closed down 0.1%, the DAX in Frankfurt shed 0.72% and the CAC-40 in Paris fell 0.5%.
Across the Tasman, the Australian 200 Index fell six points to close at 4524.
The NZX 50 rose 11 points to 3033.
At 5.30am on Friday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 72.55 US cents, 80.56 Australian cents, 46.53 pence, 62.29 yen and 0.5442 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 67.46.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US79.25 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1165.95 per ounce.
