New Zealand shares advanced Monday on the strength of communications stocks, while the services sector showed continued contraction in business activity.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 0.6%, or 79.77 points, to close at 12,764.65.

Communications stocks led the pack with a 2.6% increase, followed by technology services and electronic technology with gains of 1.9% and 1.4%, respectively.

In Asia, the Shanghai SSE and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.2% each, while Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1%.

In domestic news, New Zealand's business activity in the services sector eased further in October, with the BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index at 46. A reading below 50 points to a contraction.

New Zealand's producers price index rose 4.2% year on year in the September quarter following a 3.4% increase in the June quarter, Stats NZ data showed.

In corporate news, Contact Energy (NZE:CEN, ASX:CEN) appointed Chief Financial Officer Dorian Devers to a new role as chief development and major projects officer, starting Jan. 1, 2025. A search for a new CFO will be implemented. The energy company's shares were little changed with a negative bias.

Elsewhere, Kingfish's (c) shares rose almost 2% after it reported that its adjusted net asset value return rose 2.5% in October, beating the S&P/NZX 50's return of 1.7%.