Wall Street climbed, while US Treasuries fell, as the all-mighty American consumer showed she is confident enough in the outlook to spend more money than anticipated, bolstering expectations the world’s biggest economy is gathering steam. US retail sales excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, climbed 0.7 percent in December, following a 0.2 percent advance in November, according to …

The New Zealand dollar held gains in local trading as strong business confidence, increased consumer spending and rising property values fuelled expectations the Reserve Bank will hike interest rates to keep a lid on future inflation threats. The kiwi traded at 83.70 US cents at 5pm in Wellington, little changed from 83.76 cents at 8am, and up from 83.31 cents …

Renaissance Corp ultimately plans to wind itself up once it sells its Yoobee School of Design and deals with its ailing retail business, returning capital to shareholders. The shares jumped 28 percent to 15.4 cents. The company will ask shareholders at a special meeting on Jan. 29 in Auckland to approve the sale of Yoobee to Academic Colleges Group for …