New Zealand shares rose Monday, buoyed by a double-digit jump in the a2 Milk Company (ASX:A2M, NZE:ATM) on upbeat earnings, while Asian equities barely moved ahead of a US holiday.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index was up 0.6%, or 79.75 points, to close at 13,068.93.

Consumer durables led the increase, with stocks up 7.8%. Electronic technology stocks followed with a 6.7% rise.

Shares in Asia struggled for traction, with the Shanghai SSE, the Nikkei 225, and the Hang Seng Index all little changed in recent trade.

US markets are closed for a holiday on Monday.

Xinhua News reported that China's President Xi Jinping attended a symposium on private enterprises in a move widely seen as a boost to the private sector amid heightened trade tensions with the US.

In domestic news, New Zealand's services sector activity grew in January after 10 straight months of contraction, with the BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index up to 50.4 from 48.1 in the prior month, data showed Monday.

Meanwhile, Valentine's Day spending at florists via ANZ-issued cards showed "a dramatic annual spike" this year, according to ANZ Research data.

In corporate news, the a2 Milk Company soared over 19% after it reported fiscal half-year earnings of NZ$0.1261 per diluted share, up from NZ$0.1176 per diluted share a year earlier.

Manawa Energy (NZE:MNW) lost over 2% after it downgraded its underlying earnings guidance for fiscal 2025 to a range of NZ$80 million to NZ$95 million, from NZ$95 million to NZ$115 million.