NZ50 Drops, Set to End Week on Muted Note

2026-02-04 22:55 By Chusnul Chotimah 1 min. read

The NZX 50 fell 39 points, or 0.3%, to 13,428 in morning trade on Thursday, halting gains from the previous session, as traders continued to assess Wednesday’s jobs data.

The latest data showed the unemployment rate in New Zealand rose to 5.4% in Q4, marking the highest level since Q3 2015, while employment increased 0.5%, above estimates of 0.3% after being flat in Q3.

The latest figures raised questions over whether the central bank will cut interest rates at the upcoming meeting.

The broader index tracked a fall on Wall Street’s S&P 500 and Nasdaq overnight, amid a persistent tech stock sell-off.

Financials, industrials, consumer staples, and real estate mainly weighed on the index.

Among early losers were Freightways Group (-1.7%), Infratil (-1.3%), Contact Energy (-1.3%), A2 Milk (-0.8%), and Summerset Group (-0.6%).

For the week, the index is set to finish almost unchanged, after falling in the previous two weeks.

The New Zealand market will be closed on Friday for National Day.



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