New Zealand shares finished higher on Friday, bucking the downward trend among Asian peers as the US' tariff fight with China continued to escalate.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index was up 0.5%, or 60.55 points, to close at 12,601.42.

Commercial services led the increase as stocks climbed 3.8%, followed by technology services with a 3.7% jump.

It was a sea of red in Asia, with the Nikkei 225 slumping 3.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shedding 2.3%, and the Shanghai SSE down 0.9%.

Stocks tracked heavy losses from Wall Street overnight, with the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 tumbling 2.8% and 1.6%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5%.

Chip giant Nvidia slid more than 8% as better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings underwhelmed investors.

In tariff talk, US President Donald Trump said he wants to impose an additional 10% levies on imported goods from China, doubling the earlier planned 10% tariff. This is expected to take effect next week, media outlets reported.

In domestic news, the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose to 96.6 in February from 96 in January.

Seasonally adjusted filled jobs across all industries rose 0.3% to nearly 2.4 million jobs in January, following a 0.1% drop in December 2024, Stats NZ data showed Friday.

Elsewhere, New Zealand housing loans rose 4% year on year to NZ$370.7 billion in January, following a 3.8% rise in December 2024, per data from the Reserve Bank. Business lending grew 3.3% to NZ$138.46 billion, after a 2.9% rise.

In corporate news, Vista Group International (ASX:VGL, NZE:VGL) soared 13.8% to close at a 52-week high after it reported that it broke even in 2024, following a loss of NZ$0.06 per share a year earlier.

Port of Tauranga (NZE:POT) rose 2.7% after it reported fiscal first-half earnings of NZ$0.088 per diluted share, up from NZ$0.069 a year earlier.

Summerset Group Holdings (ASX:SNZ, NZE:SUM) climbed 5.5% even after it logged 2024 earnings per diluted share of NZ$1.44, down from NZ$1.82 a year earlier.