Equities in New Zealand fell 24 points, or 0.2%, to 12,853 in morning trade on Wednesday, halting gains from the previous session after fresh data showed the unemployment rate rose to 5.2% in Q2 - the highest since Q3 2020 - though slightly below market expectations of 5.3%. The data raised concerns about New Zealand’s economic outlook, amid additional headwinds from newly announced 15% U.S. tariffs. The NZX 50 tracked a downbeat session on Wall Street on Tuesday amid rising trade tensions, disappointing economic data, and mixed corporate earnings. Traders also continued to monitor the US trade tariff policy after President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs of up to 250% on pharmaceutical imports. Utilities, healthcare, consumer staples, and financials mainly dragged the index, with notable losses from Freightways (-1.2%), Westpac Banking Corporation (-1.2%), Fisher & Paykel (-0.9%), Briscoe Group (-0.7%), Ebos Group (-0.4%), and ANZ Group (-0.3%).