The New Zealand dollar recovered more ground as fears of weaker exports and lower payouts to farmers receded following a food contamination scare at Fonterra Cooperative Group, the nation’s largest company. The kiwi rose to 78.98 US cents at 8am in Wellington from 78.51 cents at the 5pm market close. The trade-weighted index advanced to 74.67 from 74.37 yesterday. The …

Prices of dairy products fell in the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, while the volume sold jumped to a record, suggesting little if any reaction to Fonterra Cooperative Group’s whey protein contamination scare. The GDT Price Index, previously known as the GDT-TWI Price Index, fell 2.4 percent compared to the last sale two weeks ago. The average winning price was US$4,847 a …

Wall Street fell a second day after two other US Federal Reserve officials suggested the central bank could begin easing its bond-buying program next month. In late afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.62 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.59 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.78 percent. Shares of International …

The New Zealand dollar pared gains against its Australian counterpart after the central bank cut interest rates across the Tasman, matching the local key rate, but without indicating if there’s scope for further cuts. The kiwi fell to 87.47 Australian cents at 5pm in Wellington from 87.72 cents immediately before the announcement and 87.53 cents yesterday. The local currency traded …

The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its cash rate by a quarter point to 2.5 percent as expected, matching its New Zealand counterpart’s official cash rate for the first time in more than four years and lifting the relative appeal of the kiwi. The RBA made good on its observation in recent statements that inflation in Australia is benign enough …

Property For Industry, whose shares have gained 14 percent this year, is looking expensive compared to its peers, according to brokerage Craigs Investment Partners which cut its recommendation to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’. Property For Industry almost doubled in size following a July 1 merger with Direct Property Fund. The company yesterday posted its last earnings before the merger, showing an …

Financial Markets Authority chairman Simon Allen’s role in negotiating the government’s convention centre for pokies deal with NZX-listed SkyCity Entertainment Group was recorded as a potential conflict of interest, the regulator says. Allen, a former investment banker who has chaired the market watchdog since May 2011, took a key role in talks with the casino and hotel group, according to …

Goodman Property Trust, the largest property investor by market value on the NZX, expects to increase payments to unitholders by as much as 2.3 percent in 2014, and signalled further investments are likely. Pretax distributable earnings for 2014, a measure favoured by property investors as it strips out unrealised movements in property values, are expected to be between 8.2 cents …

Argosy Property, which recently bought two Wellington commercial properties, has raised $86.9 million in a rights issue and bookbuild to repay bank debt taken on for its recent acquisitions. The Auckland-based company sold 87.2 million shares at 89 cents apiece, or $77.6 million, to shareholders who exercised their rights in a 1-for-7 pro-rata renounceable offer, it said in a statement. …

MetService, the nation’s state-owned weather forecaster, paid $3 million for a 49 percent stake in privately owned New Zealand oceanographic consultancy MetOcean Solutions, giving it a foothold in a market worth more than $10 million. The purchase will allow Wellington-based MetService to expand its research capability and add customised oceanographic forecasting and consultancy expertise to its global offering. For MetOcean, …