NZX50 stays positive as jobs figures offer something for everyone

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index kept its fingertips in positive territory as power companies Contact Energy, Mercury NZ and Meridian Energy did the heavy lifting in keeping the benchmark’s head above water in a broadly softer day across Asia.

Local tech stocks Gentrack, Vista Group International and Serko were at the bottom of the NZX50, joining the sharp selloff of software companies – including a 15% slump for ASX-listed Xero – after Anthropic’s push into legal services reminded investors about the potential disruption artificial intelligence poses to a wide range of sectors. 

Meanwhile, Statistics New Zealand’s employment figures showed the unemployment rate unexpectedly nudged up to 5.4% in the December quarter, as the economic recovery drove stronger than expected jobs growth and lured more out-of-work people back into job-hunting, boosting the participation rate.

And outside the NZX50, Synlait Milk tumbled 18% after the milk processor warned its first-half underlying earnings will be around breakeven as it had to stock up on raw milk to rebuild inventories.