The New Zealand sharemarket closed down 10 points to 3333 on turnover of $95 million on Thursday.
Telecom was down 2 cents at $3.01, while fellow top stocks Contact Energy rose 1c to $8.83 and Fletcher Building fell 15c to $7.35.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances was down 2c to $1.77, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 1c to $3.14, and Rakon lost 5c to $2.75.
Auckland International Airport was unchanged at $2.04, while Air New Zealand was down 3c to $1.07.
NZ Farming Systems Uruguay dropped 3c to $1.49 after saying its milk production in July and August was more than 10% ahead of expectations.
The Warehouse was down 1c to $3.21.
The New Zealand dollar lost more than 1 cent on Thursday at news the Reserve Bank is cutting the Official Cash Rate by half a percentage point to 7.5%.
At 5.20pm, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 65.13 US cents, 81.66 Australian, 37.20 pence, 69.95 Yen, and 0.4664 euro. The Trade Weighted Index stood at 62.61.
US bank woes affect markets
The Australian sharemarket closed sharply lower on Thursday on weaker commodity prices and renewed concerns about the American financial system, following news major investment bank Lehman Brothers is selling some assets.
At 1615 AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 1.86%, or 91.2 points, lower at 4814.3, while the broader All Ordinaries had dropped 89.9 points, or 1.81% to 4871.5.
The September share price index futures contract was 80 points lower at 4833, on volume of 27,889 contracts.
Australia's major banks suffered major losses of more than 3% following Lehman Brothers' announcement on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average put on 38.19 points to 11,268.92, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 added 7.53 points to 1,232.04 at the close on Wednesday. The tech heavy NASDAQ climbed 18.89 points to 2,228.7.
At 1633 AEST, spot gold in Sydney was trading at $US756.00 an ounce, down $US20.20 on Wednesday's close of $US776.20.
Japanese share prices closed down 1.98% on Thursday as investors shrugged off gains on Wall Street, worried that more bad news could come out of the US financial sector, dealers said.
Financial shares were weaker after a third-quarter earnings report by ailing Lehman Brothers disappointed investors, dealers said.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index shed 244.13 points to close at 12,102.50.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares fell 29.66 points or 2.49% to 1,162.72.
