The New Zealand dollar dropped after government figures showed the economy grew at the half the expected pace in the first quarter, as the drought at the start of the year saw farmers cull their herds, sapping milk production. Gross domestic product grew 0.3 percent to $37.1 billion in the three months ended March 31, from a pace of 1.5 …

The New Zealand dollar fell to a week low as the Federal Reserve signalled an end to its quantitative easing programme which has debased the greenback. The kiwi slid to 78.49 US cents, the lowest since June 12. The local currency recently bought 78.86 US cents, down from 79.88 at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. The trade-weighted index weakened to 73.90 …

Wall Street declined, as did US Treasuries, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank may begin tapering its US$85 billion-a-month bond-buying program later this year if the economy strengthens in line with its expectations. Bernanke, who spoke at a press conference after a scheduled two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, also said the Fed might …