New Zealand shares finished flat with a positive bias on Monday amid a broad-based rally in Asian shares, helped by Sanae Takaichi's decisive election win in Japan.

The S&P/NZX 50 index was little changed to close at 13,446.37.

Japan's ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, secured a historic election victory on Sunday, clearing the path for proposed tax cuts that have unsettled financial markets, alongside plans to boost military spending to counter China, a Sunday Reuters report said.

"Sanae's bold and wise decision to call for an election paid off big time," said US President Donald Trump, who will host Takaichi at the White House next month, the report added.

Meanwhile, Nikkei was up 4.23% in recent Monday trade.

In domestic news, New Zealand's national average rental price in January was NZ$634 per week, dropping 2% year-over-year, according to a statement by realestate.co.nz.

Also, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is expected to drop its near-term easing bias while keeping a cautious approach, said BNZ in a report.

In corporate news, ikeGPS Group (ASX:IKE, NZE:IKE) received notice that Regal Funds Management, a unit of Regal Partners (ASX:RPL), increased its holdings in the company to 10.526% from 9.284%.

Pacific Edge (NZE:PEB, ASX:PEB) said Medicare Administrative Contractor, Novitas, will hold a Contractor Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting on Feb. 19 to evaluate clinical evidence supporting the use of its urine biomarkers for patients with hematuria.