The New Zealand dollar may decline this week as investors shun growth sensitive currencies amid a possible US government shutdown. The local currency may trade between 81 US cents and 84.05 cents this week, according to a BusinessDesk survey of nine traders and strategists. Five expect the currency to decline while two expect it to advance and two say it …

New Zealand business confidence climbed to a new five-year high, with construction firms still the most upbeat on profits, hiring and investments. A net 54 percent of firms expect general business conditions to improve in the year ahead, up from 48.1 percent in August and the highest since March 1999, according to the ANZ Business Outlook survey. Firms seeing a …

The main elements of the Labour and Green parties’ policies to reform the electricity market could be in place within a year or two, although ironing out the detail would take considerably longer, says First NZ Capital in a report on the Meridian Energy share float. The report values Meridian at $2 a share on a discounted cashflow basis, but …