New Zealand Shares Muted After Weaker-Than-Expected US Labor Data; Tower, Synlait Shares Rise After Strategic Reviews

New Zealand shares were flat with a positive bias on Monday's close after last week's key US labor report that guides the Federal Reserve's rate decision missed analysts' expectations.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index was little changed to close at 12,621.62.

The total US nonfarm payrolls rose by 142,000 in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Sept. 6. This missed the consensus for a 165,000 increase, based on a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

The unemployment rate was down to 4.2% from July's 4.3%, in line with analysts' estimates.

In corporate news, Tower (NZE:TWR, ASX:TWR) rose nearly 4% after completing a strategic review of its capital structure and disclosing a NZ$45 million mandatory share buyback.

The general insurer expects to report more than AU$45 million in net profit after tax for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 and an extra AU$32 million in the absence of large events during the period.

Elsewhere, Synlait Milk (NZE:SML, ASX:SM1) closed more than 2% higher after concluding its strategic review of the North Island assets.

In its assessment, switching between plant-based proteins and dairy hinders its Pokeno plant's operational efficiency. It also concluded that transportation and manufacturing costs make it financially unviable for the company to continue production at the said factory.

Meanwhile, Contact Energy (ASX:CEN, NZE:CEN) recorded 456 gigawatt-hours of mass market electricity and gas sales in August, down from 489 GWh in August 2023.

The New Zealand power company's wholesale business recorded contracted wholesale electricity sales of 840 GWh and electricity and stream net revenue of NZ$204.5 per megawatt-hour.