Shares in Briscoe Group soared 7.94 percent in reaction to a strong operating statement from the retailer, while the rest of the market took a hit from a global equity market rout.
The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 43.948 points, or 1.396 percent, at 3104.991, following a 2.61 percent fall in the Dow on Thursday US time and reflecting weak markets in Asia today.
The Dow briefly fell below the crucial 10,000 mark on Thursday as stocks suffered their worst losses in more than nine months, Reuters reported. ?Escalating sovereign debt problems in Europe and an unexpected rise in jobless claims put investors on the defensive just ahead of Friday's crucial payrolls report.
"European sovereign debt worries overnight sent everything into a spiral and we've really just followed on. It's understandable," said Stuart Hardie, adviser at Craigs Investment Partners.
"There's one bright light in a gloomy day and that is Briscoe. They had solid fourth quarter sales and upbeat guidance," he said.
Briscoe rose 10c to 136 after reporting a 14.32 percent rise in sales for the three months to January 31 would help it post a full-year profit in excess of $20m.
Briscoe was one of 19 stocks to post gains today, while 71 stocks fell.
Turnover was worth $76.3 million.
Telecom dropped 10c to 231, Contact Energy lost 3c to 581 and Fletcher Building shed 18c to 752.
An announcement of healthy increases in international and domestic passenger volumes in December could not stop Auckland Airport shares easing a cent to 195.
AMP NZ Office Trust, which yesterday reported a higher interim net profit and expressed concern that proposed tax changes would affect the commercial property sector, eased 1c to 73.
TrustPower rose 2c to 734 on a day in which it released a nine month operating statement. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 1c to 339, Methven rose 4c to 170, SkyTV rose 2c to 477 and Cavalier Carpets rose 1c to 278.
The Warehouse fell 7c to 375, Freightways fell 5c to 330, Infratil fell 1c to 162 and Air NZ fell 2c to 130.
Mainfreight fell 4c to 584, SkyCity fell 1c to 322 and Port of Tauranga fell 3c to 712.
Abano fell 7c to 578 and Sanford fell 11c to 465. ANZ fell 105 to 2615.
US investors dumped banks and commodity-related shares and Wall Street's fear gauge jumped more than 20 percent.
"We got spoiled last year with the market going up almost non-stop after the March low," Bob Doll, global chief investment officer for equities at BlackRock, told Reuters. ?"The consolidation or corrective phase is probably not over." ?Worries over the ability of Greece, Portugal and Spain to pay their debts fuelled a flight from stocks to the safe-haven US dollar, which hurt commodity prices denominated in the greenback.
The unexpected increase in US weekly initial claims for state unemployment benefits pointed to stubborn weakness in the labour market, and heightened concerns ahead of Friday's employment data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 268.37 points, or 2.61 percent, to close at 10,002.18. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 34.17 points, or 3.11 percent, to ?close at 1063.11.
The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 65.48 points, or 2.99 percent, to close at 2125.43. ?
The Dow is now off 6.7 percent from its 15-month closing high of January 19. The S&P 500 is off 7.6 percent from its 15-month closing high on the same date, while the Nasdaq is off 8.4 percent from its 16-month closing peak set on January 19.