The US market was rocked overnight. Photo / Ap.
New Zealand stocks opened soft after another bad day on world markets, but a gain in respiratory products maker helped prevent a deeper loss.
By 10.10 am, the S&P/NZX50 capital index was off 153 points or 1.6 per cent at 9302.
But F&P Healthcare - the country's biggest listed stock
and one of the few likely to gain from the coronavirus outbreak - gained 30 cents to $25.95.
F&P Healthcare makes up 15 per cent the S&P/NZX50 capital index.
Overnignt, global stocks, oil prices and government bonds fell sharply as concerns about governments' ability to deal with the coronavirus outbreak continued to mount.
The prospect of slumping energy demand sent the US oil benchmark WTI crude down about 24 per cent to US$20 a barrel, the third-worst day on record.
Another oil benchmark, Brent, dropped about 9 per cent to a 17-year low of US$26 a barrel.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index closed down 5 per cent, off its lows for the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off more than 6 per cent.
