The NZX 50 index lost most of the gains made earlier on Monday, finishing up one point to 3189 on modest turnover of $59 million.
Telecom was up 5c to $2.78, while Contact Energy finished down 12c to $8.29.
Fletcher Building was down 30c to $6.91.
Hallenstein Glassons was unchanged at $2.87 after the clothing retailer recorded a profit fall of 25% to $15.9 million for the 12 months to August.
Steel and Tube was up 80c to $3.80 after its majority owner, Australian firm OneSteel, announced it will offer $4 a share for the 49% it does not already own.
PGG Wrightson fell 9c to $1.74 after saying the Craig Norgate led-Rural Portfolio Investments and Murray Flett are buying back the 14 million shares PGG Wrightson had bought in New Zealand Farming Systems.
The dollar was buying 68.53 US cents, 82.67 Australian, 37.45 pence, 72.84 yen and 0.4722 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was 64.46.
The Australian stock market closed almost 2% lower after losses in the resources sector weighed on the market and as investors awaited the outcome of a vote by US lawmakers on a $US700 billion bailout plan.
The S&P/ASX200 index was down 97.4 points, or 1.99%, to 4807.4, while the All Ordinaries dropped 95.4 points, or 1.93%, to 4839.2.
The December share price index contract was 109 points lower at 4847, on a volume of 28,040 contracts.
