News: BSL Australian shares unchanged as gain in gold stocks offset tech weakness

• Gold stocks surge as bullion gains
• CIMIC rises on highway contract win
• NZ says economy contracted in December quarter

Australian shares were unchanged in early trade on Thursday as gains in gold and mining stocks were offset by losses in tech and industrials, while domestic jobs data showed a rise from January.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) was up 0.05% at 6,795.2 by 2350 GMT.

Data showed that the country added about 88,700 jobs in February, higher than a Reuters poll projection of an increase of 30,000. Employment in January had risen by 29,100.

Among individual sectors and shares, gold stocks .AXGD surged 4% as prices of the underlying precious metal rose after the U.S. Federal Reserve reiterated its accommodative monetary policy.

Gold explorers Bellevue Gold and De Grey Mining jumped 3.7% and 3.8%, respectively.

Miners .AXMM advanced 1%, with BlueScope Steel (BSL) gaining 1.7%

Tech stocks .AXIJ fell 0.8%, with buy now pay later co Afterpay (APT) and location intelligence co Nearmap Ltd (NEA) dropping 2.8% and 1.4%, respectively.

Industrial stocks .AXNJ lost 0.4%, with toll road operator Transurban Group (TCL) and property developer Lendlease Group (LLC) falling 1.7% and 1%, respectively.

Meanwhile, engineering services provider CIMIC Group (CIM) rose as much as 0.7% after it was selected by the Queensland Government to upgrade a highway.

The number of issues on the ASX that advanced were 786 while 520 declined.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) was 0.2% lower, hurt by losses among utility and tech stocks.

The country on Thursday reported a contraction in its economy in the final quarter of last year, raising concern of a second recession and quashing expectations of a near-term hike in interest rates.