Wall Street markets have been tempered by American Airlines' decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
A warning from Fitch that the United States could lose its top credit rating also dented sentiment.
The Dow Jones Index was up 38 points on Tuesday, or 0.3%, at 11,558. The Nasdaq Composite is down 16 points, 0.6 percent, at 2510.
The FTSE 100 index in London and the CAC-40 in Paris were up 0.46% and the DAX in Frankfurt was up 0.95%.
Across the Tasman, the Australian 200 Index closed up 44 points, or 1%, to 4102. The NZX 50 closed up 21 points, or 0.6%, at 3239.
At 8.15am on Wednesday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 76.1 US cents, 76.05 Australian, 48.8 pence, 59.32 yen and 0.5713 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 67.77.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US111.90 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1711.09 per ounce.
