Dame Jenny Shipley will stand down as a director of one of China’s most powerful banks at the forth-coming AGM – one of three independent non-executive directors who are retiring by rotation from the board at the shareholders’ annual meeting. The others are  Joseph Yam Chi Kwong  and  Wong Kai-Man. Dame Jenny was first appointed as a CCB director in …

New Zealand shares fell, as weaker economic data from China and the US weighed on equity markets and commodity prices. OceanaGold, NZ Oil & Gas and Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund were among decliners. The NZX 50 Index fell 26.87 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4427.83. Within the index, 30 stocks fell, 11 rose and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $157 million. …

The New Zealand dollar recovered some of its losses after a plunge in gold and silver prices and the worst bombing on US soil since the 2001 World Trade Centre attacks sent jitters through already nervous global markets. The kiwi rose to 84.83 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 83.75 cents at 8am, though still down from 85.05 cents …