Stocks on Wall Street were little changed on the final day of the quarter, as jobless claims fell less than expected.
The Dow Jones Index on Thursday was down 1 point to 12,349. The Nasdaq Composite was up 6 points to 2783.
After rising for six days, bank shares in Britain fell on further concerns about the state of finances in euro zone countries.
Across the Tasman, the Australian 200 Index rose 16 points, or 0.3%, at 4838.
The NZX 50 closed on Thursday 7 points higher at 3440.
At 8.05am on Friday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 76.35 US cents, 73.66 Australian cents, 47.52 pence, 63.42 yen and 0.5377 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 66.79.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US117.92 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1437.05 per ounce.
