New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 dropped 0.9% to close at 13,352 on Monday, marking its biggest daily loss since late August, as investors weighed potential risks from renewed US-China trade tensions. Even as President Trump hinted that he might not implement his large-scale tariff threat on China, markets remained wary of the possible economic repercussions from trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Meanwhile, the latest PMI showed that New Zealand’s services sector has been contracting for over a year and a half, reinforcing the Reserve Bank’s view that the economy’s outlook remains fragile and strengthening the case for additional easing. Most sectors ended in the red, with notable losses from Gentrack (-4.5%), Eroad (-2.9%), Winton Land (-2.6%), Vector (-2.4%), Sanford (-2.3%), and Fletcher Building (-2.1%).
