New Zealand stocks fell as in a global sell-off as news of a passenger jet plane shot down over Ukraine and Israel’s invasion into Palestine’s Gaza strip spooked investors, driving demand for so-called ‘safe haven’ assets such as gold and bonds. Xero led the market lower, paced by fellow growth stocks. The NZX 50 Index fell 3.46 points, or 0.1 percent, to …

The New Zealand dollar is heading for a 1.5 percent weekly drop against the greenback as a Malaysian passenger jet crash in rebel-held Ukraine and an Israeli ground invasion in Gaza sapped investors’ risk appetite in an environment where the local currency had already fallen out of favour. The kiwi fell to 86.78 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 88.10 cents on Friday in …

Ailing clothing retailer Postie Plus has been sold for an undisclosed sum as a going concern to Roan Ltd, a subsidiary of Pepkor, a South African-based investment group with clothing and footwear retail interests in Australia and Eastern Europe. News of the deal began to leak after staff received letters on Roan letterhead. Some 530 of the Auckland-based company’s 560 staff have …