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Wall Street advanced as US Federal Reserve policy makers kept its US$85 billion a month bond-buying program intact as the economy continues to recover at a pace that requires ongoing stimulus. “The Committee sees the downside risks to the outlook for the economy and the labour market as having diminished since the fall,” policy makers said in a statement at …

Rakon managing director Brent Robinson and his brother and executive director Darren Robinson have agreed to sell some 493,000 recently purchased shares each after the transactions breached the Takeovers Code. This month the brothers each bought $81,539 worth of shares, representing 0.52 percent of the Auckland-based crystal oscillator maker, though in doing do breached the code as they, along with …

MightyRiverPower and Meridian Energy’s utility-style earnings and regulatory risk mean they fail the investment criteria for Fisher Funds’ managed Kingfish, according to the NZX-listed equity investor’s quarterly newsletter. Kingfish didn’t participate in the government’s selldown of MightyRiverPower, whose shares are trading below the $2.50 sale price “and is unlikely to participate in the pending float of Meridian,” according to the …

Shares in Wynyard Group gained after the intelligence software developer signed up the Serious Fraud Office as its latest customer for an undisclosed sum. The white-collar crime investigator will use Wynyard’s investigations software as a means to improve efficiency and free up investigators to better manage their operations, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. That software is used to …

The manager of Kiwi Income Property Trust didn’t give investors any more clues on a proposal to bring its contract inhouse, but did share growing optimism about state of retail and Auckland office space. Kiwi Income Properties Ltd chairman Mark Ford told today’s annual meeting the proposal by Commonwealth Bank of Australia to internalise the management of the property trust …

Xero, the cloud-based accounting firm, burned through more cash last quarter as the company’s rapid expansion saw wages, advertising and marketing payments run ahead of sales. The Wellington-based company’s cash flow statement shows it was sitting on $68.8 million of cash as at June 30, down $9.4 million from three months earlier. It used $6.57 million in the first quarter …

Auckland International Airport, the country’s main gateway, isn’t extracting excessive profits as its expected earnings fall just within the regulator’s tolerance. The Commerce Commission found information disclosure regulations have had a positive influence on the airport’s behaviour and have been effective in limiting its ability to extract excessive profits, deputy chair Sue Begg said in a statement. The antitrust regulator …

The New Zealand dollar is little changed after Fonterra Cooperative Group hiked its 2014 forecast payout and ahead of a statement today which may provide further clues on when the US Federal Reserve is likely to pare back monetary policy stimulus. The kiwi was little changed at 79.85 US cents, from 79.92 cents at the 5pm market close in Wellington …

Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world’s biggest dairy exporter, has lifted its forecast milk payout to farmers by 50 cents in the 2014 season as global supply remains constrained and as a weaker local currency bolsters export returns. The Auckland-based company expects to pay $7.50 per kilogram of milksolids and an estimated dividend of 32 cents per share, it said in …

Disappointing earnings hurt shares of companies including Occidental Petroleum, last down 3.3 percent, and Coach, last 8.3 percent weaker. There were positive earnings surprises too such as for Pfizer, helping lift its shares 0.68 percent. Overall Wall Street was mixed as Federal Reserve policy makers began a two-day meeting today, and investors are keen for fresh clues about the outlook …