New Zealand shares ended higher on Friday, while most Asian stocks rose after a report said that the US and Iran agreed on a 60-day truce, pending US President Donald Trump's sign-off.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 0.29% or 38.44 points, to close at 13,244.55.

The US and Iran have reached a tentative agreement to extend their ceasefire by 60 days and continue talks on Tehran's nuclear program, according to a Thursday Bloomberg report, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.

In domestic news, consumer confidence in New Zealand rose 6 points in May to 86.5, tracking a small uplift, although the index remained 21 points lower than its January peak, with Wellington remaining the most downcast region, ANZ Research said.

Also, business confidence in New Zealand increased by 21 points in May, reaching +10, but still lower than pre-Middle East conflict levels, according to a report by ANZ.

Further, the impact of the Middle East conflict will probably be supportive of New Zealand agricultural commodity prices in the short term, but prices could soften under a scenario of prolonged hostilities as product is diverted to markets that already have sufficient supply, Westpac said.

Meanwhile, New Zealand housing loans increased in April, while personal, business, and agricultural lending declined from the previous month, according to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

In corporate news, Spark New Zealand's (NZE:SPK, ASX:SPK) wholly owned subsidiary Spark Finance has completed a refinancing of its bank debt, establishing a new NZ$500 million committed facility to replace existing arrangements.

Chorus (ASX:CNU, NZE:CNU) said its fiber-regulated asset base (RAB) rose to NZ$6 billion in the 2025 disclosure year, up from NZ$5.9 billion in 2024.