TrustPower, the electricity generator and retailer controlled by Infratil, will pay $13.7 million for the assets of Wanganui council owned Energy Direct New Zealand, allowing it to add customers near its electricity plants. Energy Direct’s customers are close to TrustPower’s Patea hydro scheme and its Tararua wind farm, and the purchase would also allow TrustPower to sell other services to …

The New Zealand dollar fell as optimism of a US recovery raises the prospect of an end to quantitative easing in the world’s largest economy. The kiwi dropped to 81.82 US cents from 82.90 at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index slid to 76.88 from 77.46 yesterday. The US Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against its major trading partners, was …

Wall Street resumed its climb to new records, underpinned by the confidence that central banks around the world are supporting growth. Financial stocks including Bank of America and Citigroup received a boost from billionaire hedge-fund manager David Tepper who called US banks “a good sector” in an interview with CNBC. Shares of Bank of America were up 2.3 percent, while …