New Zealand shares fell Thursday following losses on Wall Street as the US Federal Reserve said it is in no hurry to tweak its monetary policy.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index lost 0.6%, or 74.66 points, to close at 12,928.38.

Non-energy minerals led the decline, followed by transportation and consumer durables.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.3%, while Australia's ASX 200 rose 0.7%. Shanghai and Hong Kong markets were closed.

Shares on Wall Street fell overnight, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite down 0.5% each, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.3%. As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee kept the target range for the federal funds rate at 4.25% to 4.5%.

"With our policy stance significantly less restrictive than it had been, and the economy remaining strong, we do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance," said Fed Chair Jerome Powell at a press conference following the meeting.

In domestic news, New Zealand's goods trade balance for December was a surplus of NZ$219 million, compared with a deficit of NZ$435 million in the prior month, Stats NZ data showed Thursday.

The ANZ Business Confidence Index fell 8 points to positive 54, which is still an "extremely high" level, ANZ Research said in its latest survey.

In corporate news, Black Pearl Group's (NZE:BPG) shares plunged past 10% even as it reported annual recurring revenue of NZ$11.1 million in the fiscal third quarter, a 100% surge year over year.

Meanwhile, Serko (NZE:SKO, ASX:SKO) appointed Matthew Gerrie as chief operating officer, effective March 17. The company's shares were up marginally at market close.