16.02.202623:02:18UTC+00New Zealand Equities Slip for 4th Session

New Zealand shares fell 39 points, or 0.3%, to 13,079 in Tuesday morning trade, extending losses for a third consecutive session and hovering near a four-month low. Declines were broad-based, led by healthcare, utilities, logistics, and non-energy minerals, as investors remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s first policy meeting of the year on Wednesday.

The central bank is widely expected to leave the cash rate unchanged at 2.25% at its first policy decision of 2026, though some investors anticipate several increases later in the year, potentially in September and October.

On the data front, food inflation in New Zealand accelerated to 4.6% in January from 4% in December, which had been an eight-month low. This marked the first increase in food price growth since October.

In the United States, markets were closed on Monday for Presidents Day, with lingering concerns around the AI sector weighing on overall sentiment. Meanwhile, Chinese equity markets remain shut for the entire week for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Notable decliners included Contact Energy (-4.8%), Serko (-1.3%), EBOS Group (-1.1%), and Gentrack (-0.7%).