Wall Street advanced amid optimism that quarterly corporate earnings will continue to surpass modest expectations. Shares of Freeport McMoRan, Travelers Cos and DuPont received a boost from their results that bettered expectations, rising 5.1 percent, 2.8 percent and 1.8 percent respectively. Johnson & Johnson, however, failed to deliver, and shares were last 0.6 percent lower. So far, 73 percent of …

New Zealand stocks eased slightly until a late rally, in line with cautious sentiment across the Asian region ahead of a crucial Bank of Japan decision to loosen monetary policy, announced just before 5pm local time. The NZX50 Index rose 1.90 points, or 0.45 percent, to 4,187.082. Within the index, 27 stocks rose, 16 fell and seven were unchanged. Turnover …

The New Zealand dollar rose during the local trading day as market-watchers across Asia waited for a crucial Japanese monetary policy decision. That decision came just after 5pm and saw the Bank of Japan announce a doubling in the country’s inflation target to 2 percent and adoption of a US Federal Reserve-style quantitative easing programme of bond-buying. Bloomberg reported the …