Kirk Hope, CEO of Business NZ, agreed that more of the same is the ideal outcome.
"From a business perspective we want the continued strong growth we've seen recently. The best outcome is that political continuity and stability continues," Hope said.
Hope said the worst case scenario would be what happened in Australia where they saw five different Prime Ministers in the space of John Key's tenure.
The resignation didn't come at an ideal time, with increased uncertainty in global politics underpinned by President-elect Donald Trump, Brexit, and the Italy referendum, but National has a number of strong senior MPs, Hope said.
He said it was too early to tell if a change of government would negatively impact the economy, but said it would be hard to get consistent agreement across three parties if Labour, Greens, and NZ First were to go into coalition.
Key's resignation adds an additional layer of uncertainty ahead of next year's election, said Westpac's acting chief economist Michael Gordon.
"The economic policies of both of New Zealand's main political parties are relatively centrist. However, there are areas where their policies differ, such as housing," he said.
"Mr Key the National Government has pursued a conservative approach to managing the government coffers, focused on improving the fiscal debt position. Despite the coming change in leadership, we do not expect any major changes in policy ahead of next year's election."
Michael Barnett, CEO of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce said Key's shock resignation has created an environment of uncertainty which is never good for business.
"The surprise nature of this event leaves many questions unanswered," Barnett said, "there's going to a lot of speculation over the coming weeks."
Barnett said Key and Bill English made a good partnership which the business community had gotten used to working with.
The National team is strong, said Barnett, but it's strong under Key. He said talent is different to leadership and it remains to be seen if someone can fill his shoes. "They would have kept following him," he said, "it's like having Richie McCaw in the pack."
"The announcement of Prime Minister John Key's resignation has come as yet another surprise and shock on the political scene this year," said PwC's corporate treasury advisory Roger Kerr.
"Foreign investors and financial market players around the world do see New Zealand as very stable politically with very stable economically," Kerr said, "so there's no major short term or long term market implications."
Tourism Export Council chief executive Lesley Immink said Key was a charismatic leader and tourism minister and an "incredible'" ambassador for New Zealand.
"New Zealand is firmly positioned on the global stage as an innovative and great country to do business with, that serves to complement our spectacular tourism offerings," she said
ExportNZ CEO Catherine Beard said John Key "will be sorely missed."
"Key has done a fantastic job on the trade front and put in a huge amount of work overseas. It's relentless stuff from very early in the morning to very late at night, and Key's opened a lot of doors to New Zealand businesses due to his hard work."
While the resignation came as a surprise to Beard, she said Key has been a team player and National should be able to provide stable continuity to the economy.
Employers and Manufacturers Association CEO Kim Campbell had an optimistic perspective on the resignation.
"People get spooked by change, but he was going to resign sooner or later," Campbell said, "and he's chosen a good time to go with the economy in good shape."
"The business community will be upset because they liked him, but English is a very good choice to take over for now."
"He had a good innings," said Campbell "We wish him the best. He will be missed. But New Zealand will live to fight another day."
The New Zealand stock market, which is down by more than half a percent, had taken its lead from offshore markets with investors wary about the Italian referendum outcome, said Harbour Asset Management's Shane Solly said.
"Offshore investors have been locking in profits in NZ stocks over the last few months. At the margin this change may see a bit more profit taking, but [Bill] English is well known by offshore investors," Solly said. "So unless accompanied by policy change, of which there is no sign currently, equity markets should stabilise."
