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The New Zealand dollar recovered some ground on Friday after figures showed a shrinking US trade deficit and gains on Wall Street helped stoke risk appetite. The kiwi dollar traded at 83.54 US cents from 83.49 cents in late New York trading on Friday, having recovered from below 83 cents in Asia at the end of last week. The trade-weighted …

Eastern Bay of Plenty electricity lines company Horizon Energy has sliced its forecast earnings by a fifth on the cost of regulation and last year’s Aquaheat acquisition, and signalled there may be more to come due to its exposure to the collapse of Mainzeal Property and Construction. The Whakatane-based company expects to post net profit of $3.4 million in the …

Investors will closely eye President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday for his take on the economic recovery and the status of negotiations towards lifting the US debt ceiling as he details plans for his second term in office. Last week’s market action showed just how easily investor confidence can be shaken-and reclaimed-at the moment. “I think …

The shale oil boom might not be popular with everyone but its positive impact on the trade balance is starting to be demonstrated. In December, the US trade deficit narrowed sharply thanks largely to record petroleum exports, with the monthly trade deficit some USD7.5bn better than expected. The provisional GDP estimate of -0.1 percent assumed a larger trade deficit. Greater …

Newly appointed Housing Minister Nick Smith has wasted no time on returning to Cabinet with the announcement of a fundamental review of the way local governments charge developers for infrastructure like roading, drainage and water. how to start a home based business The growth in so-called “development charges” by councils was identified as one of several reasons for too many …

CeresNZ, the Christchurch-based unit of American firm Ceres Environmental Services, says it has a “strong interest” in buying Mainzeal Property and Construction from the receivers. CeresNZ plans to have preliminary talks with the receivers, betting that the rebuild of Christchurch provides a role for the “highly skilled people within Mainzeal,” according to a statement posted on the Scoop website. Mainzeal, …

New Zealand shares rose, led by network company Chorus after the government pushed back draft plans to regulate its prices pending a wider review. Summerset Group rose to a new record on optimism about returns from retirement villages. The NZX 50 Index gained 30.48 points, or 0.7 percent, to 4225.72. Within the index, 26 stocks rose, 17 fell and seven …

The New Zealand dollar is heading for a 1.2 percent fall against the greenback over the course of the week after the US currency rallied following a warning from European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi against the strength of the euro and weak local employment data. The kiwi traded at 83.42 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 83.05 cents …

China Northern Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Corp easily outbid KiwiRail’s Hillside workshops in tenders to supply new rolling stock, the Auditor-General says in ruling out an investigation of the contracts. The Auditor-General reviewed documents dating back to 2005 after Labour Party and Dunedin South MP Clare Curran last August asked the body to investigate four purchases of rolling stock …

nvestors offered to buy more than six times the amount of inflation-indexed bonds on offer in the New Zealand Debt Management Office’s first sale of the securities this year. The government sold $200 million of the September 2025 bonds, which are adjusted for movements in the consumer price index, at a weighted average yield of 1.5014 percent. It received 64 …