New Zealand stocks advanced 72 points, or 0.5%, to 13,319 in early Thursday trade, sustaining gains from the prior session after Wall Street’s rebound on Wednesday as AI concerns eased and U.S. data signaled resilience. Locally, the Reserve Bank held its cash rate at 2.25%, in line with expectations, and reaffirmed its accommodative stance, with Governor Anna Breman noting rate hikes would only follow stronger inflation and growth. Sector momentum came from process industries, logistics, and healthcare, though industrial services, transport, and electronic tech weighed on the upside. Standout performers included Scales Corp. (5.3%), Ryman Healthcare (2.5%), Contact Energy (1.2%), and Spark NZ (0.9%). Meanwhile, January FOMC minutes showed Federal Reserve officials split over the future path of interest rates. Traders now await January trade figures due Friday, after both exports and imports in the Pacific nation each grew by 15% yoy in December.