New Zealand’s annual current account deficit widened to a four-year high as a reviving economy took in more imports and foreigners continued to reap greater profits here than kiwi firms garnered abroad. The current account gap widened to $8.8 billion, or 4.1 percent of gross domestic product, in the year ended Sept. 30, according to Statistics New Zealand. The actual …

Fitch Ratings has praised Fonterra Cooperative Group’s decision to hold the forecast payout to farmers and slashing its dividend by two-thirds amid a growing gap in prices between milk powders and its cheese and casein products. The Auckland-based company’s decision is “characteristic of the fiscal discipline that underscores its credit rating,” Fitch said in a statement. Fonterra has an AA …

Wall Street fell as investors eyed the Federal Open Market Committee which started its two-day meeting today but will have to wait until tomorrow to find out if there will be an easing this month of the central bank’s pace of bond-buying. In afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.05 percent, the Standard & Poor’s …