New Zealand shares declined Friday as did most Asian equities, with markets awaiting key payrolls data from the US following a brief break.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index was down 0.4%, or 47.76 points, to close at 12,895.98.

The index has lost 1.1% over the past five trading days. Non-energy minerals led Friday's losses as stocks fell 1.6%.

Most Asian equities were also in the red, with the Shanghai SSE and Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 0.4% each and Japan's Nikkei 225 dropping 1%.

Investors will keep an eye out for the US nonfarm payrolls report on Friday and how it could affect the US Federal Reserve's rate cut expectations.

In domestic news, the cost to build a "standard" single-story, three-bedroom, two-bathroom standalone dwelling in New Zealand rose 0.6% in the three months to December, below the 1.1% increase in the third quarter and the long-term average quarterly rise of 1%, CoreLogic reported. An improvement, however, is in the horizon amid cheaper mortgage rates.

Elsewhere, there were 4,767 properties listed in December, down by more than 57% from November and by 1.3% compared with the year-ago period, according to realestate.co.nz.

This was the lowest December listings on record since the property website's tracking started.

In corporate news, Briscoe Group's (NZE:BGP, ASX:BGP) shares fell about 2% after the company recorded flat sales in the 48 weeks ended Dec. 29, 2024, and warned that full-year profit will no longer meet previous guidance.