(RTTNews) - Strong opens are expected Friday for the New Zealand and Australia sharemarkets. Traders got a strong positive lead from Wall Street, as U.S. stocks moved sharply higher on encouraging economic data.

New Zealand's market moved lower on Thursday, with traders reacting negatively to word from the government that the nation's unemployment rate rose a half percent to 6.5 percent in the September quarter.

The benchmark NZX-50 index declined 22.2 points or 0.7 percent to 3,144.5.

Trading volume was 36.2 million shares as reported by the NZ Exchange, carrying a total value of NZ$63.2 million.

Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners 45 to 25 with 36 unchanged.

Among the session's most actively traded stocks, Auckland International Airport was down NZ$0.01, AMP NZ Office Trust was down .03, Fletcher Building was down .13, Fisher & Paykel Appliances was up .03, Goodman Property Trust was down .02, Kiwi Income Property Trust was down .03, SkyCity Entertainment was unchanged and Telecom Corp of NZ was down .06.

Among the Australia-New Zealand dual-listed stocks, Telstra was down .06, Australia and NZ Bank was down .66, Westpac Bank was up .10, AMP was down .13 and Pan Pac was unchanged.

Across the Tasman, Australia's sharemarket fell to a nearly two-month low.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 32.1 points or 0.7 percent to 4,508.0 while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 28.4 points or 0.6 percent at 4,519.2.

Trading volume was 2.6 billion shares valued at A$5.12 billion.

There were 473 stocks closing higher, 588 were lower and 316 unchanged.

The banking sector was mixed with Australia and NZ Bank down A$0.66, Commonwealth Bank of Australia was up .48, National Australia Bank was up two cents and Westpac was up a dime.

Among the resources stocks, mining giant BHP Billiton was down .50 while rival Rio Tinto was down .84.

In the retail sector, Department store Myer Holdings was down .08 while rival David Jones was down .23. Woolworth shares were down 24, Wesfarmers was down .57, JB Hi-Fi was down .10 and Harvey Norman was up a penny.

In overseas trading, Wall Street staged a rally on Thursday after the latest data on unemployment and productivity put traders in a buying mood. About a half hour before the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 189.24 points or 1.93 percent at 9,991.38, the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 45.43 points or 2.21 percent at 2,199,94 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 17.88 points or 1.71 percent at 1,064.38.

Most of the major Asia/Pacific region markets closed lower on Thursday.

In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Average declined 126.87 points or 1.29 percent to finish at 9,717.44.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was down 135.69 points or 0.63 percent at 21,479.08.

China's Shanghai Composite index was up 26.52 points or 0.85 percent at 3,155.05.

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