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The New Zealand sharemarket eased in line with offshore markets but was relatively insulated compared to Australia.
Wall St indices lost nearly 2 per cent on Friday on weak employment data which stoked fears of recession, and Australia felt the chill, falling 1.8 per cent in mid-afternoon trading.
In contrast, New Zealand's benchmark NZSX-50 index eased just 9.08 points or 0.2 per cent to 4142.89, albeit on a low $44m turnover.
Global factors such as the refinancing of US$113b of credit and interest rates in the US were likely to be more influential than local factors this week, Macquarie Equities broker Kerry Porter said.
"I think the markets here are adopting a little bit of a wait-and-see attitude in terms of what the [US]Federal Reserve does or doesn't do next week."
Corporate news was scarce but Telecom led the way, up 3c to 441.
Other leaders included Fletcher Building down 16c to 1175, Contact Energy down 5c to 910, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare up 3c at 358, and F&P Appliances down 6c to 361.
Among the retailers, The Warehouse fell 11c to 577 after jumping 2 per cent on Friday on unexpected news of a special dividend of 35c a share. Its annual report is due on Friday, along with fellow retail Hallenstein Glasson, which rose 10c to 465.
Pumpkin Patch, which reports next Monday, was down 7c to 328, while Hellaby gained 5c to 265, and Briscoe Group fell 3c to 148 on thin trading after reporting a 12 per cent fall in half-year net profit last Friday.
Risers included Cavalier Carpets, up 9c at 330, Sky City up 4c to 445, Trustpower up 15c to 845, and Michael Hill up 5c to 1020.
Declines included in-play stock Auckland Airport, which erased Friday's 2c gain to 307 . PGG Wrightson lost 13c to 180 after going ex-dividend by 8c, and GPG lost 5c to 202.
Of the 143 stocks traded, 47 rose and 66 fell.
Offshore, US stocks fell across the board on Friday night on news US employers had cut a net 4000 jobs in August, surprising economists.
The report cemented expectations the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates when policymakers meet this month.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 249.97 points, or 1.87 per cent, at 13,113.38. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 22.83 points, or 1.54 per cent, at 1,455.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 51.30 points, or 1.96 per cent, at 2,563.02.
- NZPA