The NZX 50 rose 41 points, or 0.3%, to 13,269 in Thursday morning trade, extending gains from the previous session and tracking a rally in the S&P and Dow Jones on Wall Street overnight amid hopes of a US-Iran peace deal. Decelerating oil prices also lifted sentiment by easing inflation fears, as New Zealand heavily relies on imported fuel. A statement from a top central banker today that how high interest rates will go depends on how much weaker demand from higher energy costs would hold back other price increases also supported sentiment, after the RBNZ kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. The governor of the RBNZ, Anna Breman, told Morning Report that the official cash rate is expected to rise to 3% or 3.25% in the future. Industrials, healthcare, and tech sectors mainly drove the index, with notable gains from Mainfreight (7.4%), Gentrack Group (2.4%), South Port NZ (1.7%), Ebos Group (0.8%), Henderson Far East (0.8%), and ANZ Group (0.4%).