New Zealand shares ended flat on Wednesday after a Wall Street rally in Nasdaq and S&P 500 shares following soft inflation data.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index was little changed to close at 12,779.26.

The headline and core consumer prices rose 0.2% month-on-month, below the 0.3% rise expected by consensus.

"I'm just a little bit cautious here about chasing the rally in stocks at this level. We've got to wait to see what happens with regards to headlines and the framework around further tariff negotiations with other countries, but you know at this point of time the worst-case scenario has been priced out," said IG analyst Tony Sycamore, as quoted by Reuters.

On the local macroeconomic front, New Zealand's seasonally adjusted electronic card transactions slid 0.2% to NZ$9.05 billion in April following a 1.6% decline in March, Stats NZ data showed Wednesday.

In corporate news, Contact Energy (NZE:CEN, ASX:CEN) appointed Matt Forbes as chief financial officer, effective immediately.

Energy and telecommunications company Vector (NZE:VCT) is conducting a strategic review of its fiber business, which offers wholesale data networks to businesses.