New Zealand labour costs rose in line with expectations in the final three months of 2012 as the gathering pace of Canterbury’s reconstruction effort saw the building and construction sector underpin gains. Private sector salary and ordinary time wages rose 0.5 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31, as expected, and maintaining the same pace of growth from a …

The New Zealand dollar rose against the euro as European political reports renewed concerns about the region’s debt crisis and pushed the common currency down from a two-year high against the greenback. The New Zealand dollar rose to 62.49 euro cents from 62.03 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. It traded at 84.46 US cents from 84.55 cents. The euro …

Stocks on both sides of the Atlantic dropped as concern about Europe’s political and financial instability returned, and Wall Street’s five-year highs left investors with vertigo in the absence of signs to justify current valuations. The latest American economic report also disappointed. Orders to US factories advanced 1.8 percent in December after a revised 0.3 percent slide the prior month, …