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New Zealand Shares Rise; Meridian Energy Gets Corporate Credit Rating Affirmation From S&P Global

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New Zealand shares ended higher on Friday despite most Asian shares seeing losses after a Thursday Wall Street sell-off and continued US-Iran conflict.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 0.59% pr 79.90 points to close at 13,94.68.

On Thursday, the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.5%, the S&P 500 lost 0.5%, while the Dow Jones slid 0.2%.

Iran launched fresh attacks on US facilities in the Gulf on Friday following a sixth consecutive night of US strikes on Iranian military targets, according to a Friday Reuters report.

In domestic news, Petrol and diesel prices in New Zealand decreased by around 4.2% and 12%, respectively, in June compared with the previous month, according to a Stats NZ selected price indexes report.

Further, New Zealand consumer prices are expected to climb by 1.5% in the June quarter as the Middle East conflict drives oil prices up, Westpac said.

Also, ANZ now expects second-quarter annual headline inflation in New Zealand to accelerate by 0.9 percentage points to 4%, slightly below its previous forecast of 4.1% but still a touch higher than a New Zealand central bank estimate of 3.9%, ANZ said.

In corporate news, Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ, NZE:MEL) said S&P Global Ratings reaffirmed the company's corporate credit rating at "BBB+" with a stable outlook.

Property For Industry (NZE:PFI) completed a refinancing of its bank facilities with ANZ Group (ASX:ANZ, NZE:ANZ) unit ANZ Bank New Zealand, Bank of New Zealand, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA), and Westpac Banking's (ASX:WBC, NZE:WBC) New Zealand unit.

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