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Wellington has turned on a fabulous day for the premiere of Sir Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. Here’s the New Zealand Herald link. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10850547

The controversial oil and gas discovery technique known as fracking is safe when conducted to best practice standards, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Jan Wright, in an interim report However, she will spend the next six months assessing whether New Zealand’s “fragmented” regulatory system is up to scratch and lays out seven recommendations in the meantime relating to …

New Zealand Oil & Gas has agreed to acquire interests in three offshore Taranaki permits from ASX-listed Octanex for US$12.5 million plus a share of seismic costs. The company will pay US$12.5 million for a 12.5 percent interest in PE51906 which holds the Makatu prospect and is expected to be drilled in the second half of next year. Octanex will …

Fonterra Cooperative Group priced its units at $5.50 apiece, the top end of the range proposed in a bookbuild, with strong global demand ensuring 42 percent of the fund has been sold to overseas investors. Units in the $525 million Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund are scheduled to begin trading on the NZX at noon on Friday, giving liquidity to the Trading …

New Zealand won’t sign up to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal unless it includes an agreement to progressively abolish tariffs on agricultural products exported to North America, Prime Minister John Key said. With international negotiators for the trade pact due in New Zealand next week for the next round of talks on the TPP, Key also said it would …

High Court proceedings challenging the government’s partial privatisation of MightyRiverPower commenced this morning and immediately faced strong questioning from the presiding judge, Justice Ronald Young. Appearing for the Waikato River and Dams Claims Trust and the Poukani Claims Trust, Helen Cull QC argued that Maori claims to water and land rights could not be adequately protected once MRP was removed …

GLOBAL MARKETS:  A quiet session overnight, with the US market closed for Thanksgiving. Further signs of recovery in the Chinese manufacturing sector underpinned optimism, with European and UK equities up 0.6% and 0.7% respectively. Core global bond yields continued their slow grind higher, while Eurozone peripheral yields edged lower. Greek Government bond yields (16.06% for the 10-year maturity) fell to their …

Is the U.S. fiscal cliff a serious downer for the greenback? Not according to Vincent Cignarella from the Wall Street Journal’s Markets Hub.

Australian Liberal politician Malcolm Turnbull has sheathed his leadership sword and Tony Abbott has welcomed it, The Australian’s political editor Dennis Shanahan says. NZ Inc analysts reckon the big difference between Turnbull and Cunliffe is the former is blessed with more political sophistication. Abbott is also secure enough in himself not to feel overly threatened by having Turnbull in his …

SOFT COMMODITY PRICES. Last night’s GlobalDairyTrade result of a 0.7% increase in the average winning price, but softer milk powder prices confirmed reports that prices have plateau for now. Trade reports are indicating most buyers have their immediate requirements covered, but order books are firming up for 2013. The catalyst for another leg up may well be when export markets shift …