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New Zealand guest nights rose to a six-month high in the final month of 2012 as international visitors filled local accommodation in Auckland, Canterbury and Otago. Total guest nights at commercial accommodation rose 3.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted 2.7 million in December, the highest level since June, according to Statistics New Zealand. That was led by a 6 percent …

New Zealanders lifted spending on their credit, debit and charge cards last month, led by consumables such as food and liquor, and fuel. The value of electronic card spending in retail industries rose 0.3 percent, seasonally adjusted, in January from December, the fourth straight gain, according to Statistics New Zealand. Core retail spending, which excludes motor vehicle-related industries, also gained …

New Zealand house prices eased from a record last month while the volume of sales had a seasonal dip compared to December, according to the Real Estate Institute. The national median house price fell 4.9 percent in January from December to $370,000 and was 4.2 percent higher than in January 2012. The median price in Auckland rose 8.1 percent from …

The government’s chief statistician, Geoff Bascand, will leave Statistics New Zealand in May to take up a senior role at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. Bascand will leave his chief executive’s role after six years in the job with timing that will allow him to see through the March 5 national census, which was delayed two years by the …

All eyes are on President Barack Obama’s annual State of the Union address, the first in his second term in office, Tuesday evening. In afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite Index both dipped 0.20 percent, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.09 percent. The Dow fell from the highest close …

Receivers for collapsed construction firm Mainzeal Property and Construction say they are entertaining approaches from “a handful” of would-be buyers for either the whole firm or individual projects within it. data entry jobs at home PwC receiver Colin McCloy told BusinessDesk that around 200 staff have been made redundant to stem operating cash flows as they move as quickly as …

Australian discount consumer electronics chain JB Hi-Fi’s New Zealand sales fell 6 percent in the first half from a year-earlier result boosted by the 2011 Rugby World Cup, though it still managed to lift profit. Sales fell to $117.5 million in the six months ended Dec. 31 from $124.9 million a year earlier, the ASX-listed company said in a statement. …

Allied Farmers says it won’t be able to repay a $500,000 loan without support from its secured lender and may have to write off the asset it had planned to sell to make the payment. The Hawera-based company says it is “very surprised” by the statutory demand for payment of the loan plus interest of about $40,000 within 15 working …

CeresNZ, the Christchurch-based unit of American firm Ceres Environmental Services, says it has a “strong interest” in buying Mainzeal Property and Construction from the receivers. CeresNZ plans to have preliminary talks with the receivers, betting that the rebuild of Christchurch provides a role for the “highly skilled people within Mainzeal,” according to a statement posted on the Scoop website. Mainzeal, …

The New Zealand dollar recovered some ground on Friday after figures showed a shrinking US trade deficit and gains on Wall Street helped stoke risk appetite. The kiwi dollar traded at 83.54 US cents from 83.49 cents in late New York trading on Friday, having recovered from below 83 cents in Asia at the end of last week. The trade-weighted …