Wall Street slipped from record highs amid comments by a US Federal Reserve official that the central bank should start tapering its bond-buying program next month. In late afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.32 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index eased 0.20 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.07 percent. Declines in …

The New Zealand dollar recovered some ground on confidence trade with China would not be as severely affected as first thought by a food contamination scare at Fonterra Cooperative Group, the nation’s largest company. The kiwi rose to 78.05 US cents at 8am in Wellington from 77.71 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index advanced to 74.04 from 73.81 yesterday. …

Fonterra Cooperative Group chief executive Theo Spierings has expressed regret at a Chinese media conference for consumer anxiety caused by revelations that batches of whey protein had been contaminated. The conference was broadcast live on the Reuters livestation website and translated into Chinese. The three contaminated batches were used in the manufacture of infant formula and sports drinks. “We regret …