The NZX 50 dropped 29 points, or 0.2%, to 13,570 in morning trade on Friday, extending losses from the previous session. The decline tracked a fall on Wall Street overnight, weighed down by a broad sell-off in AI-linked stocks amid fading expectations of Fed interest rate cuts at the December meeting. Almost all sectors traded in the red, led by technology, healthcare, and utilities. Traders also awaited a slew of economic data from New Zealand’s top trading partner, China, later today to gauge the mainland’s economic prospects. However, hopes of a 25bps rate cut by the RBNZ this month capped the losses. Fresh domestic data also prevented a steeper decline in the broader index, as the Business Performance Index rose to a three-month high. Among early losers were Gentrack Group (-2.6%), Mainfreight (-2.2%), Ryman Healthcare (-1.7%), and Briscoe Group (-0.9%). For the week, the index is heading for a 0.2% fall, which would mark the first weekly decline in four weeks.