FX.co ★ New Zealand Stocks Track Wall Street Higher

On Tuesday, the NZX 50 climbed by 33 points, or 0.2%, reaching 13,541 after achieving its most significant intraday gain in over four months during the prior session. This increase propelled the index to its highest point since December 3, mirroring the buoyant performance on Wall Street, where technology stocks rebounded following renewed enthusiasm for AI-related shares. Investors took advantage of shortened trading hours this week, anticipating further interest rate reductions by the Federal Reserve, despite the absence of robust market drivers. With trading in New Zealand wrapping up early on Christmas Eve and remaining closed on December 25 and 26, most sectors, including consumer discretionary, financials, utilities, and real estate, experienced gains. Market sentiment benefited from the People’s Bank of China maintaining its key lending rates at historic lows, which offered support to New Zealand’s principal trading partner. Early standout performers included Meridian Energy, up by 2.0%, Infratil, which rose by 1.3%, Colonial Motor at 1.0%, Westpac Banking Corp. seeing a 0.6% increase, and Ebos Group with a 0.5% rise.