Warehouse Group, the country’s biggest listed retailer, bought consumer electronics and appliance chain Noel Leeming Group for $65 million from Gresham Private Equity. The Auckland-based retailer’s acquisition will be completed today and is expected to add to the company’s earnings immediately, contributing between $4 million to $6 million to earnings before interest and tax in the six months ended Jan. …

The New Zealand dollar held above 83 US cents, having rallied in New York on Friday following figures showing the US economy added more jobs than expected and the jobless rate fell. Weaker US consumer sentiment capped the gains. The New Zealand dollar fell to 83.12 US cents from 83.24 cents in late New York trading on Friday. The trade-weighted …

As investors return to their screens in anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s final meeting of the year, time is running short on a budget deal in the US. adobe flash software On Friday, Wall Street received a boost from better-than-expected jobs data, which more than offset even more doom and gloom from House Republican leader John Boehner on the prospects …

New Zealand shares rose, with the NZX 50 Index nearing its 5-year high, as investors took heart in progress with Christchurch’s rebuild and a hot Auckland property market in driving Fletcher Building to the highest in 16 months. The NZX 50 rose 18.16 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4041.52. Within the index, 21 stocks rose, 21 fell and eight were …

The New Zealand dollar is headed for a 1.4 percent gain this week after Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler quashed expectations for a rate cut, singling out the country’s inflationary pressures as his number one bugbear. The kiwi traded at 83.18 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 83.12 cents at 8am and 82.87 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index climbed …

New Zealand’s largest electricity producer, Meridian Energy, has resumed talks with Rio Tinto Alcan, the majority owner of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, over Rio’s request for changes to 18-year contracts for power supply that kick in on Jan. 1. Meridian chief executive Mark Binns told the company’s annual public meeting in Wellington that Rio had recently come back to …

An unnamed adviser at a registered NZX participant firm will pay a $10,000 settlement with the market watchdog after getting found out on a backroom deal to get Trade Me shares when the online auction site was floated last year. The adviser used a client to get their hands on 1,500 Trade Me shares in the initial public offering, when …

Commonwealth Bank of Australia is the first overseas investors to disclose a substantial holding in units of the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund that debuted a week ago. Funds associated with Australia’s biggest lender hold 7.4 percent of the units, according to a substantial security notice yesterday. The funds bought 6.6 million units at a grand total of some A$31 million on …

The New Zealand dollar climbed to a 16-month high on a trade-weighted basis after investors piled into currency after Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler yesterday all-but ruled out a rate cut as he zeroes in on potential inflation emerging in the country’s housing market. The trade-weighted index rose as high as 74.45, the highest level since August last year, and …

NO EARLY XMAS PRESENTS FROM THE ECB OR BOE. As widely expected, both the ECB and BOE left their major policy settings unchanged. Updated ECB forecasts were unveiled, with ECB having become gloomier about the growth outlook. The mid-points of its latest staff forecasts imply that GDP will fall by 0.5% this year and a further 0.3% in 2013, before rising …