New Zealand shares were flat with a positive bias on Wednesday while Asian markets were mostly lower as investors digested an intensifying US-Iran conflict.
The S&P/NZX 50 was little changed to close at 13,819.43.
The Middle East conflict widened on Tuesday as Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen struck several Saudi cities, drawing a key US ally deeper into the war, while US forces attacked multiple Iranian oil tankers and Iran targeted a US military base in Jordan, according to a Reuters report.
In domestic news, a total of 3,452 metric tonnes (MT) of products were sold during the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) Pulse auction held Tuesday, with supply ranging from 3,200 MT to 3,650 MT, according to data from the trading platform.
Further, New Zealand's economy likely grew 0.1% in the second quarter from the linked three-month period, ANZ said in a report as it revised its preliminary forecast of a 0.2% contraction.
Also, Reserve Bank of New Zealand Assistant Governor Karen Silk said repurchase agreement, or repo, markets have grown significantly in recent years globally, supported by more government bond issuance and changes in regulation, risk appetite and market infrastructure, and because of this, repo markets matter more for monetary policy, according to a Wednesday speech.
In corporate news, Spark New Zealand (NZE:SPK, ASX:SPK) said its unit Spark Wholesale is launching a dedicated data center interconnect service using Ciena's 1.6 terabit per second coherent technology.
RUA Gold (NZE:RGI) completed 19,600 meters of drilling at its Auld Creek gold-antimony project in New Zealand, surpassing its 19,000-meter target, with four rigs continuing to test a mineralized resource that remains open in all directions.