Shares in Hallenstein Glasson dropped after the clothing retailer warned first-half profit will decline 39 percent after a poor Christmas sales period. The stock fell 15 percent to $3.62 after the Auckland-based retailer said December sales were 10 percent below the same month a year earlier, and cut its first-half profit expectations to between $6 million and $6.3 million from …

The New Zealand dollar touched an eight-year against its trans-Tasman counterpart ahead of Australia employment figures, which will give investors another update on how that economy is tracking. The kiwi rose as high as 93.96 Australian cents, the highest since December 2005, and traded at 93.51 cents at 8am in Wellington from 93.40 cents yesterday. The local currency was little …

Stocks on both sides of the Atlantic rose as the World Bank upgraded its forecast for global growth and as US corporate earnings such as from Bank of America were better than anticipated. The World Bank lifted its forecast for global growth, saying it expects the economy to expand 3.2 percent this year, up from 2.4 percent in 2013, and …