New Zealand: Shares Hover at 5-Week High.

New Zealand stocks rose 74 points, or 0.6%, to 13,600 in Thursday morning trade, rebounding from a muted session the day before. The benchmark NZX 50 touched a five-week high, lifted by Wall Street’s tech-driven rally on Wednesday as concerns over AI disruption eased. Gains were tempered, however, by local reports that the Reserve Bank is proposing nationwide access to free cash services, a move the banking lobby warns would raise costs across the sector and ultimately for all New Zealanders. Meanwhile, U.S. President Trump cautioned countries against retreating from recent trade deals, threatening higher tariffs if they did. Industrial services, healthcare, and utilities led advances, while commercial services and producer manufacturing weighed on momentum. Early standouts included Sky Network TV (4.6%), Seeka Ltd. (1.4%), Meridian Energy (1.3%), and EBOS Group (1.1%). Traders now await January’s business and consumer confidence data for cues on economic health.