New Zealand employment confidence rose to a six-year high in the September quarter as sentiment in Canterbury bolstered the nation’s outlook on jobs, according to the latest Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index survey. The index rose to 111.5 in the September quarter from 109.9 in the June quarter, in a measure were a number above 100 indicates optimists outweigh pessimists. …

Co-founder of SLI Systems Geoff Brash, who last week halved his stake in the search engine developer, has resigned as vice president from the company as the shares trade at a record low. Brash will end 13 years with the company when he formally resigns as vice president from Business Intelligence at the end of this year, the Christchurch-based company said in a statement …

New Zealand stocks rose, paced by Spark New Zealand as investors were lured to the local bourse’s relatively high yields. Infratil rose as it sealed the sale of its Australian energy assets and signalled a capital return. Genesis Energy fell as it shed rights to its dividend. The NZX 50 Index rose 19.546 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5274.583. Within the index, …