FX.co ★ New Zealand Stocks Fall to Begin the Week

The NZX 50 index decreased by 58 points, or 0.4%, reaching 13,542 during morning trading on Monday. This decline marked a pause in the gains from the previous session and brought the index to its lowest point in over a week. The downturn was largely attributed to weaknesses in the real estate, utilities, and industrial sectors. Traders are closely following the developments of the US government shutdown, as the postponement of critical economic data intensifies the debate over the necessity of another rate cut at the Federal Reserve's December meeting. Nonetheless, the decline was mitigated by encouraging economic data from China, New Zealand's primary trade partner, as consumer prices unexpectedly increased in October while producer prices declined at their slowest rate in 14 months. Domestically, the anticipation of rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) at this month's meeting also cushioned the index from a sharper fall, with the market forecasting a 25 basis points reduction. In the early trading hours, notable declines were observed in Freightways (-1.8%), Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (-1.4%), Meridian Energy (-1.2%), Summerset Group (-1.1%), Colonial Motor (-0.8%), and Ebos Group (-0.6%).