New Zealand Shares Set To Close Week Lower

The NZX 50 fell by 41.74 points or 0.35% to a four-week low of 11,794.30 in early deals on Friday, retreating for the second straight session amid weakness from utilities and industrials.

The index is heading for a drop of around 1.1% for the week, which would be the third straight week loss, amid the uncertainties the Fed cuts interest rates.

Meantime, Wall Street ended mixed overnight, with Nasdaq and S&P closing in the red while the Dow Jones in the green, as solid economic data and comments from Fed officials signaled the central bank was unlikely to cut interest rates shortly.

Traders continued to assess the potential of the RBNZ to hold the interest rate for the seventh straight meeting after the Q1 annual inflation rate was at 4%, which still came in higher than the central bank forecast of 3.8% and above the RBNZ's target band 1-3%.

Among the biggest laggards were Manawa Energy (-3.02%), Marsden Maritim Holdings (-1.46%), Meridian Energy (-1.03%), and Infratil (-0.82%),