Stocks were mixed overnight as investors weighed a round of warnings by credit rating agency Standard & Poor's in two days that would boost borrowing costs throughout the euro zone.

World share markets are down, with worries about Europe overwhelming good economic data from the US.

Wall St advanced overnight as investors focused on some positive news from the home front, including better-than-expected jobless claims data and Cisco Systems earnings.

Markets fell overnight on both sides of the Atlantic as Italy's borrowing costs soared, intensifying concern that efforts to contain the European Union's debt crisis aren't working.

Equities on both sides of the Atlantic have started the week in the red as Greece agreed to form a new government and Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi denied reports he planned to resign.

Stocks on Wall St and in Europe rose after an unexpected interest rate cut by the European Central Bank and the vote backdown from the Greek PM.

World sharemarkets dropped overnight after the Greek Prime Minister sought to silence critics by unexpectedly calling for a referendum.

Halloween is likely to be a lot less spooky than it appeared to be mere days ago with October set to close as the best performing month for Wall Street in decades.

Slowly, but surely, Alan Bollard and the New Zealand economy are turning Japanese.

The Reserve Bank has this morning left the Official Cash Rate unchanged at a record low 2.5 per cent. The move was widely anticipated, with this week's inflation numbers coming in lower than predicted.

New Zealand needs to avoid a costly regulatory over-reaction to the Christchurch earthquakes, says Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard.

Anyone hoping for a weekend fix to the global banking sector will have to wait a little longer - perhaps a lot longer.