KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket bounced off its lows today, but still closed down more than 1 per cent as the global sharemarket rout continued.
The top-50 index was earlier down more than 2 per cent as panic selling spread to Asian markets, following heavy losses overnight.
European share markets suffered their worst one-day percentage fall on record on Monday, sinking to four-year closing lows as investors dumped shares across the board.
In the US, the Dow finished below 10,000 points for the first time in four years, on concerns that fallout from the escalating credit crisis will drag the global economy into recession and cripple profits.
In New Zealand, the NZSX-50 closed down 1.45 per cent, or 44.19 points, at 3004.19. Turnover totalled a light $79.9 million.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index recovered from earlier losses to be up 1.9 per cent at 4624, while Japan's Nikkei share average was down 1.95 per cent.
"Things are very cheap and there is probably some bargain-hunting," said Macquarie Equities investment advisor Brad Gordon.
"I think you've probably seen a lead especially from Australia, and Dow futures are up, so that's probably providing a level of comfort that it may be time to enter back into the market."
Among the few New Zealand stocks to gain were The Warehouse, up 4c at 310, Steel & Tube, up a cent at 372, and second-ranked Contact Energy, up 5c at 745 after the Government rejected another price inquiry.
Top stock Telecom was down a cent at 278.
Macquarie has downgraded Telecom to "sell" from "neutral" due to the company's planned capital expenditure, which was high in a very uncertain environment, Mr Gordon said.
Fletcher Building fell 8c to 642, off its session low of 625, following news it was buying steel products company Fielders Australia, which has annual sales of A$275 million ($317 million).
"I'm not sure whether that acquisition has made any difference to its share price to be honest - we're still in a property-related and building-related sentiment against those companies and Fletcher Building obviously will be bargain-hunting, and it's probably quite a shrewd move for them when the market turns," Mr Gordon said.
Among other declines, Freightways fell 12c to 305, Mainfreight lost 11c to 605, Port of Tauranga was down 10c at 660, TrustPower slid 31c to 749, and Auckland Airport shed 10c to 180.
Dual-listed stocks were mixed, with ANZ up 5c at 2100, Westpac down 25c at 2575, AMP up 4c at 779, and Lion Nathan down 20c at 1040.
- NZPA
