Nervous investors around the world contributed to falling sharemarkets in almost every country, but the fall in the NZX-50 was limited by low volumes as investors kept their hands in their pockets.
The NZX-50 traded only about $43 million for the day, a low volume for a Thursday.
Contact, one of the main market companies, only traded 400,000 shares.
Overseas, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 2.5%, its biggest one-day point drop since June 29. The Nasdaq Composite slid more than 3% and the Standard & Poor's broader index fell 2.82%.
Asia Pacific sharemarkets caught the bug, with Australia down 1.4% late yesterday afternoon and Asian markets all down 1% or more.
The US dollar rallied against the euro and other high-yielding rivals but fell to its lowest level against the yen since 1995.
Economists are starting to discuss a double-dip recession in stronger terms than they have in previous commentaries.
The biggest worry was the perception worldwide economic growth was slowing more than people thought it should and the US economy was stagnating or heading back into flat growth.
