New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index advanced 0.5% at 13,672, wiping out earlier losses to hit a record high close. Shares of transport company Mainfreight rose 6.8% despite reporting an 18.5% decline in net profit for the half-year ended September. Kiwi Property added 0.5% after announcing a conditional land deal for a second Costco Wholesale store in South Auckland’s Drury. Other large-cap gainers included Fisher & Paykel (+0.5%), Meridian Energy (+0.5%), Infratil (+0.6%), Contact Energy (+0.8%), and Spark NZ (+0.4%). Investor sentiment was also lifted by hopes that the US government shutdown could soon end, alongside a weak US jobs data that raised expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December.