New Zealand shares have declined from their all-time high.

New Zealand's NZX 50 index declined by 56 points, or 0.4%, to 13,702 during Thursday morning trading. This retreat followed a previous record high, with investors opting to secure profits. Concurrently, Wall Street experienced a decline on Wednesday, moving away from recent peaks amidst ongoing geopolitical tensions, mixed economic data, and initial earnings reports. Anticipation increased ahead of the release of December food inflation and PMI data on Friday in New Zealand, followed by Q4 CPI data next week, following the strongest increase in five quarters during Q3. Despite this, losses were mitigated by a record trade surplus in 2025 with China, the top trading partner, with December figures surpassing USD 100 billion due to robust exports to non-U.S. markets in response to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Weakness was observed in producer manufacturing, transportation, and logistics sectors, while industrial services and energy minerals helped limit the decline. Notable underperformers included Winton Land (-1.7%), Vista Group Intl. (-1.7%), Serko Ltd. (-1.2%), and Infratil Ltd. (-1.0%).