At trading close in the US on Thursday (US time), The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.53%, the S&P gained 1.77%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.76%.
The ASX bled red throughout Thursday (NZ time), losing about 3% to close at its lowest point since October last year. The NZX closed down almost 1%.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Chris Timms said the NZX’s trading on Thursday opened sharply lower, but managed to climb off its worst levels during the afternoon, closing 0.86% down.
"This followed aa sharp sell-off on Wall St during the previous session, which saw the Dow Jones and S&P500 erase their gains for the year, and the Nasdaq Composite enter correction territory."
He said the NZX was down 8.37% for October and was "on track" for its worst month since February 2009.
Forsyth Barr broker Suzanne Kinnaird said while Asian benchmark indexes followed Wall St down as the sell-off unfolded, Europe and UK markets climbed into positive territories as currencies weakened.
Factors influencing the week’s trading included mixed global earnings, budget conflicts between the European Union and Italy, criticism of Saudi Arabia over the killing of a journalist, and ongoing US-China trade tensions.Asia stocks had tumbled on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei was near a seven month low, dropping 3.72%, South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.63%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 1%, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.02%.
