New Zealand shares advanced Tuesday as equities tracked gains on Wall Street, with investors all eyes on key central bank announcements this week.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index was up 0.9%, or 116.97 points, to close at 12,914.30.

Overnight, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.2% to reach an all-time high of 20,173.90. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, while the Dow fell 0.3%. Markets focus is on the expected quarter-percentage-point reduction in the US Federal Reserve's benchmark lending rate on Wednesday.

In Asia, Shanghai's SSE lost 0.6%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.4%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 was little changed. The Bank of Japan is also scheduled to meet this week, with analysts expecting policymakers to keep the key rate unchanged.

In domestic news, New Zealand's job ad volumes grew 1% month on month in November following a 1% decline in October, marking the data set's first increase since July and only the second rise for the year, according to Seek's employment report released Monday.

In property, the market value of houses in New Zealand rose further in November, with the Reinz House Price Index up 0.6% following a 0.5% monthly increase in October.

In corporate news, Contact Energy (ASX:CEN, NZE:CEN) named its current head of corporate finance Matt Forbes as acting chief financial officer, effective Jan. 1, 2025. The energy generator's shares eked out a modest gain.

Port of Tauranga (NZE:POT) said the Environment Court has confirmed that resource consent will be granted for the planned stage-one construction of the company's Sulphur Point berth extension. Shares were up nearly 1% at market close.