The New Zealand dollar fell before the release of US consumer prices for June, amid speculation inflation in the world’s biggest economy may have accelerated enough to bring forward the timing of interest rate hikes. The kiwi traded at 86.74 US cents at 5pm in Wellington, from 86.89 cents at the start of the day and from 87.12 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index declined to …

Shares in A2 Milk Co jumped 9.8 percent from a 15-month low on news the milk marketer has won Chinese regulatory approval to export its a2 Platinum infant formula. Milk processor Synlait Milk is still waiting for registration. The Auckland-based company has been included in the list of approved imported brands issued by the China General Administration of Quality Inspection and Quarantine, it said in a statement. The …

Electricity and gas consumers will be about $33 million a year better off if a draft decision by the Commerce Commission to reduce the returns allowable to monopoly electricity and gas network owners and national grid operator Transpower is upheld, although the impact at the household level will be tiny. The commission released a draft decision on the long-running battle over the appropriate weighted average cost …