New Zealand shares slipped 19 points, or 0.1%, to 13,800 in Thursday morning trading, giving back some of the previous session’s gains. The move followed a weak performance on Wall Street overnight, driven by a sharp rise in US Treasury yields and higher oil prices. Crude extended its advance, stoking inflation worries and strengthening expectations that central banks may have to keep raising interest rates.
Investors were also positioning ahead of key US inflation figures due later this week, which are expected to provide further guidance on the Federal Reserve’s policy stance at its upcoming meeting. Consumer staples, financials, and materials led the decline on the local market, with notable early losers including Briscoe Group (-0.9%), A2 Milk (-0.8%), Hallenstein Glasson (-0.8%), F&C Investment (-0.6%), Infratil (-0.6%), and Delegat Group (-0.4%).
