KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket traded lightly but held its own against sharp falls on offshore bourses , in line with Wall St.
Australian stocks were down roughly 2 per cent in late afternoon trading, and the Nikkei was down 1.4 per cent, but the NZSX-50 benchmarket index dropped just 0.2 per cent or 10.50 points to 3547.74.
Falls outnumbered rises 71 to 23 on a low total turnover worth $74 million.
ABN Amro Craigs broker Bryon Burke said the week had started quietly, with buying later in the day, as investors sat out of the overseas volatility.
"It's not too bad considering the world markets," he said, "It's only the stocks which are heavily owned by Australian investors that seem to be dragging [the index] lower."
They included Fletcher Building, down 22c to 910 - a $1 slide since last Wednesday - and Contact Energy, down 10c to 821, after going ex-dividend by 11c today.
Westpac and Goodman Fielder also suffered, Westpac falling 120 to 2400 and Goodman Fielder down 8c to 209, although the latter was ex-div by 6c.
Telecom had a strong day in the circumstances, up 7c to 396 on $25m, following reports of index-related buying last week.
Auckland Airport, which paid a 5.75c dividend, shed 3c to 225 as the Canada Pension Plan reduced its voting rights claim to meet tighter foreign ownership rules, in the event its partial takeover succeeded.
Other stocks to go "ex-div" included Sky TV, down a cent to 497 after paying a 7c dividend; GPG off 4c to 162 after a 1p (NZ2.57c) dividend; and Cavalier up 2c to 265, despite a 6c dividend.
Export stock Fisher & Paykel Healthcare appeared to benefit from a softening in the New Zealand dollar, up 4c to 296, while the Warehouse slid 7c to 603 ahead of its first half results on Friday.
Freightways fell 17c to 320, while Ebos fell 10c to 500 and Port of Tauranga pushed up 15c to 660.
On Wall St, investors shunned the market on Friday after a report showing that jobs had been shed the steepest rate in nearly five years, confirming fears of a recession for many.
The Dow Jones industrial average slid 1.22 per cent to 11,893.69, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.84 per cent to 1293.37 - its lowest close since August 2006.
The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 8.01 points, or 0.36 per cent, to close at 2212.49.
- NZPA
