New Zealand equities stormed past 4,200 on the NZX50 Index, recovering ground lost since mid-January despite a mixed first full week of corporate earnings as Telecom Corp became the latest big corporate to announce big job cuts. The NZX50 index of leading stocks rose 44.175 points, or 1.1 percent to 4,214.603, a level not seen since Jan. 18, when there …

Ports of Auckland, whose operations have been disrupted by a drawn-out industrial dispute that scared off customers, posted a 17 percent decline in first-half profit on reduced container volumes and an absence of year-earlier one-time gains. Profit fell to $15.5 million in the six months ended Dec. 31, from $18.6 million a year earlier, the city-owned port company said in …