Don't panic - is the message for Kiwis worried about volatile global markets

The Herald's John Weekes says Wall St finished sharply lower on Monday, on a day Japan's Nikkei had its worst performance in 37 years.

The NZ50 was down 1.5 percent yesterday, but Weekes says because our market has under-performed, it wasn't priced so highly.

He says there is a possible benefit to being an underachiever.

Mark Lister from Craigs Investment Partners says the local market will probably hold up better than those off shore.