New Zealand shares ended lower on Monday as weaker-than-expected US jobs data led to a Wall Street sell-off on Friday.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 0.36% or 45.36 points to close at 12,684.04.

The benchmark S&P 500 was down 1.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite closed 2.2% lower, and the blue-chip Dow lost 1.2%.

Most investors are now expecting a rate cut by the Federal Reserve due to recent data showing slower job creation in the US.

"This is a market increasingly believing that rate cuts will underpin the next leg of support. The question is whether this easing comes from soft-landing dynamics or worsening stagflation risks." said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets, as quoted by Bloomberg.

In domestic news, Barfoot & Thompson's home sales in Auckland reached 957 properties in July, or roughly NZ$1.05 billion, up nearly 9% from 876 properties sold in the prior month, the real estate agency reported.

Also, New Zealand's total new lending decreased to NZ$15.06 billion in June from NZ$15.52 billion in May, according to data from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

Further, ANZ believes that New Zealand businesses have been keeping extra workers as they expect the economy to improve, an effort that has kept unemployment about 0.5% lower than it would have been otherwise.

In corporate news, Tourism Holdings (ASX:THL, NZE:THL) said its board rejected the unsolicited, conditional, non-binding indicative proposal from a special purpose vehicle representing a consortium of BGH Capital and the family interests of Luke and Karl Trouchet to acquire all of the company's shares for NZ$2.30 per share either by way of a scheme of arrangement or a takeover offer.

Briscoe Group (ASX:BGP, NZE:BGP) said unaudited sales for the fiscal second quarter rose 2.1% to NZ$192.9 million, from NZ$189 million last year.