Brent crude oil prices jumped by 5% to US$72.22 a barrel.
Harbour Asset Management portfolio manager Shane Solly said share prices here and overseas started to peel off after the attack on Iran but the response was fairly muted on optimism it might not escalate.
In Australia, the decline would have been worse had it not been for gains in its energy sector, which benefitted from the higher oil price, Solly said.
The Iranian attack, a major plane crash in Ahmedabad, India, and higher fuel prices combined to put aviation stocks under pressure.
Air NZ dropped a cent at one point but recovered to end steady at 59c, while Qantas fell 4.9% to A$10.20 ($10.98) on the ASX in late trading.
“The unfortunate situation in India has had a bit of an impact on the airline and travel sector in general,” Solly said.
“And higher oil prices increase costs and people tend to dial back on travel when there are major geopolitical issues.”
Market trading volumes had slowed after activity earlier in the week suggested support was coming from other markets, as investors hedged their bets in non-US markets.
Shares in processor Synlait Milk fell 3c or 4.3% to 67c after the company announced it had extended its $130m shareholder loan from Bright Dairy – which owns 65.25% of its shares – for another 12 months.
The share price of Synlait’s biggest customer, a2 Milk – which also has a stake in Synlait - fell by 10c to $8.70.
Fletcher Building dropped 8c or 2.4% to $3.20, while SkyCity eased 1c to 92c.
The two are involved in legal action over SkyCity’s long-delayed International Convention Centre project in Auckland.
Spark, which this week was suggested as a possible takeover target, dropped by 3.5c to $2.30.
Among the smaller companies, Radius Residential Care gained 0.5c to 29.5c after the company said its trading had been ahead of expectations in the opening months of its March 2026 financial year.
On year-to-date performance, the group’s first-half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were likely to be significantly ahead of the same period in 2025, it said.
“It gives a glimmer of light for some of the other aged care operators as they get their businesses in order, so maybe there’s some upside to their care operations,” Solly said.
Looking ahead, BNZ expects New Zealand’s first-quarter GDP to show a 0.7% gain when data is released next Thursday.
“We continue to hear from a wide range of businesses that the economy is slow,” Solly said.
“There is a recovery, but it’s slower than many expected.”
Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets and the primary sector. He joined the Herald in 2011.
