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Local investors will be hoping the NZX can shake off more negative Wall St sentiment and break a 12-day losing streak today.
The NZX-50 has now shed 9.3 per cent since the start of the year and more than 15 per cent since its peak in October last year.
The wider market has lost $6.2 billion in value since the start of the year and just over $14 billion since October.
Brokers say the sell-off has been driven by foreign institutions which are pulling out of markets around the world on fears that the US is headed for a recession.
Falls on the the local exchange have largely followed Wall St's lead. Markets in New York close just as New Zealand opens for trading, setting the tone for the day.
In Friday trading, US markets started positively on news that heavyweight General Electric had delivered a profit in line with expectations.
But things went downhill after President Bush announced plans for a US$150 million economic rescuepackage.
The market was underwhelmed.
"You can see almost every member of our Government talking about their concern for the economy and what they're trying to do to help, but that only makes it feel worse from the financial markets' point of view," Epoch Investment Partners head of equities David Pearl, told Bloomberg News.
Even if local markets do follow Friday's Wall St close and finish down again today, there may be some respite tomorrow with US trading on hold for the long weekend to celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday.
As the short week kicks off in the US, the tone will be set by corporate earnings. More than 100 companies on the S&P 500 are due to report this week, including Apple, Bank of America and Pfizer.
