New Zealand shares closed lower on Thursday after an escalated Middle East conflict raised oil prices and impacted global equities.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 2% or 245.1 points to close at 13,070.5.

According to a Wednesday Reuters report, Iran blamed Israel for striking facilities at its massive South Pars gas field, and vowed retaliation against energy targets across the Gulf and launched missile strikes toward Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

"This latest escalation feels like a turning point for markets because the conflict is no longer just about military headlines or Strait of Hormuz closure. It is now hitting the plumbing of the global energy system. What is unsettling markets now is the growing stagflation ​risk... It means this is no longer ​just a geopolitical story but a ⁠macro one," said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore, as quoted by Reuters.

In domestic news, New Zealand's economy expanded 0.2% in the December 2025 quarter, following a 0.9% expansion in the previous quarter, Stats NZ data showed.

Also, New Zealand housing sales volumes fell 6.8% in February, extending a slow start to 2026 as buyers remained cautious, even amid broadly stable property values, Cotality said.

Further, New Zealand's job ads rose 0.9% month over month in February, suggesting continued confidence, particularly in core goods-producing and essential service industries, with the annual increase now at over 12%, the strongest annual rise since 2022, online employment marketplace Seek said.

In corporate news, Bankers Investment Trust's (NZE:BIT) unaudited net asset value was 1.408 pounds sterling per share as of Tuesday.

Turners Automotive Group (NZE:TRA, ASX:TRA) raised its fiscal year 2026 net profit before tax forecast to about NZ$63 million from around NZ$60 million, driven by strong summer trading across its core businesses and bringing it closer to its NZ$65 million target for fiscal 2028.