A 6.5 magnitude earthquake in New Zealand’s Cook Strait has closed Wellington financial trading rooms and shut down portions in the capital city as local authorities assess the damage. Wellington trading desks at Bank of New Zealand and ANZ Bank New Zealand are closed as corporates in the capital join the rest of the city in checking buildings following a …

Precinct Properties New Zealand, which counts its 10 office towers in Wellington’s central business district as 40 percent of its $1.6 billion portfolio, says it has suffered no major damage from yesterday’s 6.5 magnitude earthquake. The city was shaken by the quake at 5.09 pm yesterday, the peak of a swarm of earthquakes centred off the coast of the upper …

The kiwi dollar is holding below levels the Reserve Bank is forecasting for the third quarter though that’s unlikely to be enough to change its view of the interest rate outlook this week. The central bank will keep the official cash rate at 2.5 percent on Thursday, according to a Reuters survey of 16 economists. The bank will hike the …