In morning trading on Thursday, the NZX 50 index declined by 39 points, or 0.3%, to 13,428, reversing the gains seen in the prior session. This downturn followed the release of Wednesday's employment data, which traders are still evaluating. The data indicated that New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to 5.4% in the fourth quarter, surpassing both the previous quarter and market forecasts of 5.3%. This figure represents the highest unemployment rate since the third quarter of 2015. On the other hand, employment rose by 0.5%, exceeding predictions of a 0.3% increase after stagnation in the third quarter. These statistics have sparked discussions about the possibility of the central bank reducing interest rates in its forthcoming meeting. The NZX 50's performance mirrored a decline in Wall Street's S&P 500 and Nasdaq due to an ongoing sell-off in tech stocks. Sectors such as financials, industrials, consumer staples, and real estate exerted downward pressure on the index. Early in the session, notable decliners included Freightways Group, dropping 1.7%, Infratil with a 1.3% loss, Contact Energy also down by 1.3%, A2 Milk losing 0.8%, Summerset Group declining by 0.6%, and Auckland International Airport slipping by 0.5%.