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The New Zealand dollar held gains in local trading after weak US industrial production sapped demand for the greenback, and ahead of an upcoming dairy auction, which will offer a gauge on New Zealand’s biggest commodity export. The local currency traded at 81.62 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 81.72 cents at 8am, up from 81.26 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted …

New Zealand shares fell, led by Summerset Group Holdings, as the prospect of new rivals weighed on listed retirement village operators. Stocks with regulatory pressure, such as Air New Zealand, Chorus and energy companies fell amid political uncertainty ahead of Saturday’s general election. The NZX 50 Index fell 21.075 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5189.785. Within the index, 31 stocks …

Warehouse Group faces a year of reckoning as investors await evidence that New Zealand’s largest listed retailer will get a return on the hundreds of millions of dollars spent overhauling stores and buying new businesses in the past couple of years. Under chief executive Mark Powell, Warehouse has outlaid $115.8 million in capital expenditure on its iconic ‘red shed’ general merchandise …

Seniors Money International, which sold its ‘home equity release’ mortgage business to Heartland New Zealand for $87 million this year, would sell the 9.4 percent stake it got in the lender as part payment once a 12-month lock-up ends for the shares. Auckland-based Seniors, which counts buyout firm Quadrant Private Equity as its biggest shareholder, got $47.3 million cash and 43 …

Berry company OOB has sealed two deals with Shanghai-based companies to sell its organic ice-cream. The first deal is a one-year, ten-container, contract with retailer Li Feng which has already been trialling the ice-cream product for some stores. It plans to stock the ice-cream in 200 stores across Shanghai. The other deal is with a confectionary gift retailer which has 700 …

At exactly 7pm, Kim Dotcom and allies – Laila Harre (leader of the Internet-Mana party), Glenn Greenwald (American lawyer and adversarial journalist) and Bob Amsterdam (Dotcom’s lawyer) – took the stage at the Auckland Town Hall, to raucous applause. Adding to the atmosphere was Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden via videolink. They had come for Dotcom’s …

The New Zealand dollar gained amid mixed US data as investors await the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting starting today. The kiwi rose to 81.72 US cents from 81.26 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index advanced to 78.51 from 78.07 yesterday. US data overnight presented a mixed picture of the state of the world’s largest economy, as the New York Fed’s …

Wall Street fell while US Treasuries rose after a report showed a surprise decline in US industrial production a day before Federal Reserve policy makers begin their two-day meeting, which may offer new clues on the timing of an interest rate increase. The focus is on whether the Federal Open Market Committee will change its language with regards to interest …

The New Zealand dollar may decline this week, weighed down by weaker local data and a more positive view of the greenback. The kiwi will probably trade between 79.60 US cents and 83.40 cents this week, according to a BusinessDesk survey of 10 currency traders and strategists. Five pick the local currency to decline, three say it will probably remain relatively …

Infratil shares rose to the highest in more than six years on the prospect of a capital return after the A$605 million sale of its Australian energy operations, which will generate a $44 million fee for manager HRL Morrison and Co. The Wellington-based company sold Lumo Energy and Direct Connect Australia after reviewing its ownership of the assets in May, …