New Zealand Shares Flat; Bremworth Backs Floorscape Agreement Amid Speculation Over Regulatory Clearance
New Zealand shares ended flat with a negative bias on Thursday as all Asian markets saw a sell-off amid continued hostilities between the US and Iran.The S&P/NZX 50 Index was little changed to close at 13,206.11.The US carried out overnight strikes in Iran targeting a military site and downed four Iranian one-way attack drones deemed a threat near the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Wednesday Reuters report, citing a US official."Over the next 2 weeks, we expect either a deal for a new ceasefire, or the current ceasefire will have collapsed with active hostilities resuming," said Madison Cartwright, a senior geo-economics analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, as quoted by Reuters.In domestic news, the seasonally adjusted number of filled jobs across New Zealand industries rose 0.2% month-over-month to 2.4 million in April, following a 0.3% increase in March, data from Stats NZ showed.Also, New Zealand's total number of enterprises rose to 603,354 in April 2026 from 596,721 in April 2025, according to data from stats.govt.nz.In corporate news, Bremworth (NZE:BRW) said it continues to believe that its October 2025 agreement to be acquired by Floorscape represents the best available opportunity to provide value to shareholders.Fonterra Co-operative Group (NZE:FCG) said the opening 2026/27 season forecast farmgate milk price is NZ$9.75 per kilogram of milk solids within a range of NZ$8 to NZ$11.
