New Zealand’s “buoyant” manufacturing sector expanded for the 19th consecutive month in March as domestic demand for goods and fast-growing Asian economies fuelled economic momentum through the first quarter of 2014. The employment index reached a seven-year high. The BNZ-BusinessNZ seasonally adjusted performance of manufacturing index increased to 58.4 in March, from an upwardly revised 56.5 in February, and 53 …

The New Zealand dollar jumped three quarters of a US cent against the greenback to its highest since July 2011 after the Federal Reserve minutes from its last meeting in March pushed out expectations of when the Fed will start raising interest rates. The kiwi jumped as high as 87.25 US cents from 86.47 cents immediately before the release of …

Wall Street rose, extending gains after the latest Federal Reserve meeting minutes eased concern that US policy makers had been planning to raise interest rates sooner than had been anticipated. The Fed released minutes from the March 18-19 Federal Open Market Committee meeting were released at 6am New Zealand time. Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s comments at the end of that …