Mixed opens are expected Friday for New Zealand and Australia stocks. Traders get a positive lead from Wall Street, where stocks posted modest gains to continue their September rally.
New Zealand's sharemarket declined on Thursday, thanks in large part to weakness by leading company Telecom Corp, which declined more than 5 percent,
The benchmark NZX-50 index declined 9.4 points or 0.3 percent at 3,151.8.
Trading volume was reported by the NZ Stock Exchange at 41.5 million shares valued at NZ$97.9 million.
Among the session's most actively traded stocks, Auckland International Airport closed down NZ$0.02, Air NZ was down .02, Fletcher Building was up .06, Fisher & Paykel Appliances was up .01, F & P Healthcare was down .02, NZ Oil & Gas was up .02, SkyCity Entertainment was unchanged and Telecom Corp of NZ was down .11.
For the Australia-NZ dual listed stocks, AMP was unchanged, Australia and NZ Bank was up .27, APN News & Media was unchanged, Telstra was down .03 and Westpac Bank was up .28.
Across the Tasman, Australia's share market rose, bolstered by data showing a dip in the nation's jobless rate.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index added 45.0 points or 1.0 percent at 4,582.2 and the broader All Ordinaries index rose 43.0 points or 0.9 percent to 4,621.3.
Trading came as the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the country's August unemployment rate dipped by 0.2 percent to 5.1 percent. Most economists were predicting a decline to 5.2 percent.
Trading volume was 2.5 billion shares valued at A$5.8 billion.
There were 700 stocks closing higher, 346 were lower and 354 unchanged.
The financial sector was strong, buoyed by news that the ACCC agency voiced its continued opposition to the proposed merger of National Australia Bank and AXA Asia Pacific.
On the announcement, shares of AXA closed down A$0.36 or 6.6 percent. NAB shares jumped .89 or nearly 4 percent. Among the other major lenders, Commonwealth Bank of Australia was up .71, Australia and NZ Bank was up .27 and Westpac was up .28.
In the mining sector, global leader BHP Billiton was up .27 and rival Rio Tinto added .46.
Among the other resources stocks, Woodside Petroleum was up .22, Oil Search was up .06 and Santos was down .07.
In overseas trading, U.S. stocks moved modestly higher on Thursday. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 10,415.24, a gain of 28.23 points or 0.27 percent. The Nasdaq Composite index was up 7.33 points or 0.33 percent at 2,236.20 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 5.31 points or 0.48 percent at 1,104.18.
Most of the other major Asia/Pacific region markets closed higher on Thursday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 average added 73.79 points or 0.82 percent to close at 9,098.39.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 78.41 points or 0.37 percent at 21,167.27.
The Shanghai Composite index in China was down 38.94 points or 1.44 percent at 2,656.35.
In India, the BSE 30/SENSEX index was up 132.95 points or 0.71 percent at 18,799.66.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index was up 13.74 points or 0.43 percent at 3,230.89.
In South Korea, the KOSPI/Seoul Composite index rose 5.14 points or 0.29 percent to 1,784.36.
The Taiwan Weighted Index was down 15.77 points or 0.20 percent at 7,835.54.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.