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The New Zealand may gain with more Chinese economic data coming later today and amid expectations Fonterra Cooperative Group will announce a hike in its forecast payout to farmers tomorrow. The kiwi traded at 82.90 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 82.70 cents at 8am and 82.91 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index was 77.78 from 77.83 yesterday. Traders are …

The Financial Markets Authority says there's a big difference in quality between audit reports by the 'big four' accounting firms and their lower tier rivals, who will need to step up their game significantly to meet regulations overseeing the sector. The market watchdog's first audit quality review report since the regulations came into play last year found “the majority of …

Units of Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund were cut to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ by brokerage Craigs Investment Partners because of the ongoing squeeze of rising raw material costs and weaker prices for value-added products such as casein and cheese. Fonterra’s 2014 normalised earnings before interest and tax may fall 24 percent to $764 million, Craigs analyst Arie Dekker said in a report. …

Air New Zealand, the national carrier, expects first half pre-tax earnings to rise 20 percent from the year earlier on optimism about its December bookings and on certainty about redundancy costs. The Auckland-based carrier said it expects earnings before tax to increase about 20 percent in the six months ending Dec. 31, including about $10 million of redundancy costs. Last …

The Reserve Bank's exemption of new home building from low-equity mortgage limits, just two months after they were introduced, shows the central bank isn't immune to lobbying and highlights the limitations of such policies, says the NZ Institute of Economic Research. The bank today amended its loan-to-value ratio speed limit policy, designed to limit the risk to the nation's financial …

Shares in Wynyard Group jumped 8.6 percent after the intelligence software developer grabbed its third new client in as many weeks, and building expectations the firm will deliver on its growth aspirations. The Auckland-based company signed up the Thai Customs Department today, where Wynyard’s software will be used in preventing drug trafficking at the South East Asian nation’s northern border. …

New Zealanders’ retail spending on credit and debit cards rose in November, as spending on consumables, the largest single component, increased at the fastest pace since April last year. Seasonally adjusted retail spending on electronic cards rose 0.6 percent in November to $4.53 billion, Statistics New Zealand said. That’s higher than the 0.4 percent monthly gain expected in a Reuters …

Pyne Gould Corp, the asset management firm controlled by George Kerr, expects to sell its remaining $4.8 million of assets still in New Zealand next year as it looks to quit this country and relocate to Guernsey. Chairman Bryan Mogridge told shareholders in Auckland today the bulk of the company’s $151.8 million of assets are located in Australia and the …

The New Zealand dollar touched a new five-year high against the Australian dollar overnight ahead of a report today which is expected to show the Australian economy continues to lag New Zealand. The kiwi hit 91.31 Australian cents overnight, and was trading at 90.86 cents at 8am in Wellington from 90.81 cents at 5pm yesterday. The local currency slipped to …

Wall Street rose amid optimism that accelerating economic growth will outweigh any pullback in the US Federal Reserve’s bond-buying programme. In afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.11 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 0.24 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.15 percent. Gains in shares of General Electric and Caterpillar, both …