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The value of cash market trading on the NZX dropped 20 percent in the first quarter while a rise in smaller transaction drove a jump in overall volumes on the New Zealand bourse. Total trades rose 35 percent to 313,903 in the three months ending March 31 from a year earlier, NZX said in a statement. Trades of less than $50,000 jumped …

Mighty River Power, whose shares have been below their listing price since May last year, named company insider Fraser Whineray as chief executive when long-serving CEO Doug Heffernan leaves at the end of August. Whineray is currently general manager of operations at the Auckland-based power company, which is about 52 percent owned by the government following its initial public offering …

The New Zealand dollar climbed above 86 US cents after the harsh US winter slowed growth more than expected in the world’s biggest economy and the Federal Reserve continued to trim its money printing programme. The kiwi climbed to 86.21 US cents at 8am in Wellington from 85.63 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index advanced to 80.08 from 79.68. The greenback tumbled after …

US equities and bonds gained after the Federal Reserve indicated it will keep interest rates low for “a considerable time,” while also pointing to a pick-up in the economy. “Growth in economic activity has picked up recently, after having slowed sharply during the winter in part because of adverse weather conditions,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement. …

New Zealand Oil & Gas is ramping up spending in exploration and evaluation as it looks to find replacements for its Kupe and Tui oil and gas fields. The Wellington-based company spent $25 million on exploration and evaluation in the three months ended March 31, according to its quarterly cash flow report. Both its Tui oil field and Kupe oil …

New Zealand business confidence extended its slide from a 20-year high, while remaining at elevated levels, amid expectations the central bank will continue to hike interest rates to quell inflation in an accelerating economy. A net 64.8 percent of firms are optimistic about general business conditions this month, down from 67.3 percent in last month’s survey and 70.8 percent in …

Woolworths, Australia’s biggest supermarket operator, said third quarter sales barely budged at its Countdown chain in New Zealand, in the face of a subdued, highly competitive market. New Zealand supermarket sales edged up 0.1 percent to $1.4 billion in the 13 weeks ended April 6, the Sydney-based retailer said in a statement. The strength of the kiwi dollar meant sales …

New Zealand building consents for residential housing, excluding apartments, rose to a six-and-a-half year high in March, snapping two months of decline. Excluding apartments and units, which are typically volatile from month to month, seasonally adjusted consents rose 1.3 percent to 1,813 units in March, the most since November 2007, according to Statistics New Zealand. Including apartments, seasonally adjusted new …

Shares in Xero climbed 11 percent after the accounting software developer said it slowed the pace of cash outflow in the first three months of the year. The stock jumped $3.31 to $33.30 after the Wellington-based company said net operating cash outflow was $5.6 million in the three months ended March 31, slowing from an outflow of $6.5 million in …

Diligent Board Member Services filed its 2013 annual report after restating accounts for the prior three years and said chief financial officer Carl Blandino will step down once the company’s reporting obligations are up to date. The New York-based, New Zealand-listed company, whose strong operating performance was undermined by a slew of administrative errors last year, today filed its annual …