The New Zealand sharemarket managed to record only moderate losses in early trading, after stock exchanges in the United States and Europe tumbled overnight.
Around 10.15am, the benchmark NZSX-50 Index was down 6.85 points to 2761.33, on top of yesterday's 12.2-point fall.
US and European stocks fell more than 2 percent after US government data showed the US economy shed more jobs than expected in June, dampening the outlook for an economic turnaround.
The Labor Department said US employers cut 467,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent from 9.4.
The European Central Bank also reported that unemployment in the euro zone hit 9.5 percent in May, the highest level in 10 years.
Among leading stocks in this country, Telecom lost 1c early to 265, Contact Energy was down 1c to 575, and Fletcher Building dropped 2c to 650.
Other stocks falling early included Sanford, down 9c to 530, NZX down 5c to 740, Freightways down 4c to 286, Mainfreight down 3c to 417, Steel & Tube down 3c to 284, and The Warehouse down 3c to 375.
The small number of shares to gain early included Goodman Property Trust, up 2c to 91.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.6 percent to 8280.74, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 2.9 percent to 896.42, and the Nasdaq Composite Index sank 2.7 percent to 1796.52.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 2.6 percent to close at 843 points.