The NZX 50 slipped 28 points, or 0.2%, to finish at 13,582 on Thursday, extending the previous session’s losses. The decline was led by weakness in communication services, energy, consumer staples, and technology stocks.
Communication services dropped 2.8%, with Spark New Zealand, the country’s largest telecommunications and digital services provider, falling 3.7%. Chorus, New Zealand’s largest telecommunications network operator, also retreated, with its share price down 2.5%.
The broader index followed Wall Street lower overnight as investors reassessed the durability of the recent AI-driven rally. Market participants also looked ahead to New Zealand’s May consumer spending figures, due Friday.
Softer oil prices helped cap the market’s downside by easing inflation worries and tempering expectations of further interest rate hikes. Among individual movers, Ebos Group lost 2.7% and A2 Milk declined 1.3%, while Infratil and Hallenstein Glasson each fell 0.8%.
On the economic front, New Zealand building permits dropped 4.0% in May.
