writing services Qantas Airways, Australia’s dominant airline, has ring-fenced $10.3 million of tax losses to cover any penalties in its disputed tax case with the Inland Revenue Department over interest deductions claimed on convertible notes. The airline’s New Zealand subsidiary Jetconnect, which manages the group’s trans-Tasman passenger schedule, elected to use “tax losses within the Qantas Group against the shortfall …

The New Zealand dollar rose against the greenback, even as US stocks fell, in what may be a run of safe-haven buying that’s also lifted the Australian dollar. The kiwi rose to 83.55 US cents from 82.94 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. The trade-weighted index climbed to 75.19 from 74.82. Stocks on Wall Street fell ahead of the US …

Wall Street retreated, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index from its five-year high, as investors gear up for the fourth-quarter earnings season. Profits at S&P 500 companies increased an average 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Excluding financial companies, earnings rose 0.5 percent. Alcoa is the first company to report after the market …