New Zealand shares fall to 1-wk low

New Zealand shares fell to a one-week low on Thursday, benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 23.74 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 8,098.93 at 0115 GMT.

Construction firm Fletcher Building slid 2.1 per cent, weighing most on the index, closely followed by Spark New Zealand Ltd. The telco fell 1.2 per cent to its lowest in almost two weeks.

Statistics New Zealand said the country experienced a monthly trade deficit of NZ$1.143 billion in September, with the annual deficit at NZ$2.91 billion, reports Reuters.