New Zealand stocks fell 19 points, or 0.1%, to 13,800 in Thursday morning trade, after gaining in the previous session, tracking a downbeat session on Wall Street overnight following a surge in Treasury yields and rising oil prices. Oil continued to rise, raising concerns over inflation and boosting bets that central banks would raise interest rates. Traders also anticipated the release of US inflation data later this week for clues on the Fed's monetary policy decision at its upcoming meeting. Wednesday's data from China, New Zealand’s top trading partner, also pressured sentiment, as consumer and producer price pressures continued to rise amid higher oil prices. Consumer staples, financials, and materials mainly weighed on the index, with early losers including Briscoe Group (-0.9%), A2 Milk (-0.8%), Hallenstein Glasson (-0.8%), F&C Investment (-0.6%), Infratil (-0.6%), and Delegat Group (-0.4%).