New Zealand stocks dropped 108 points, or 0.8%, to close at 13,711 on Thursday, touching its lowest level since July 31, after rising 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, including the RBNZ, which recently hiked its interest rate for the second straight meeting. 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, as well as New Zealand's manufacturing PMI for August due on Friday. Industrials, utilities, and financials mainly weighed on the index, with the biggest laggards including Fletcher Building (-2.6%), Delegat Group (-2.1%), Briscoe Group (-1.9%), ANZ Group (-1.5%), Mainfreight (-1.3%), Westpac Banking Corp. (-1.2%), and Freightways Group (-1.2%).