New Zealand shares rose 72 points, or 0.5%, to 13,603 in Thursday morning trade, ending a three-day losing streak. The rebound tracked strong gains on Wall Street overnight, as easing oil prices and upbeat economic data improved risk sentiment. Confidence was further supported by news of a free trade agreement between Wellington and New Delhi, which extends beyond goods into a wider economic partnership.
In Australia, the economy expanded by a stronger-than-expected 0.8% qoq in Q4 2025, underpinned by solid private and public demand, bringing annual growth to 2.6%. However, advances in the benchmark index were capped by soft data from key trading partner China, where manufacturing and services activity weakened in February, in part reflecting disruptions around the Lunar New Year holiday.
By sector, logistics, energy minerals, and non-energy minerals outperformed, while process industries and producer manufacturing lagged. Notable gainers included Briscoe Group (up 3.2%), Infratil (2.2%), Tourism Holdings (1.6%), and Sky Network Television (1.5%).