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The New Zealand dollar nudged higher on Monday after falling late last week and a test of higher levels is in prospect this week if data is supportive. The kiwi was at 84.02 US cents at 5pm, up from 83.71 US cents at 8am but still down from 84.25 US cents at 5pm on Friday. The NZIER business confidence survey …

The price of internet connection to the rest of the world is dropping again as New Zealand’s only international cable owner, Southern Cross Cables, announces a 20 percent cut in its capacity prices. However, critics of the single carrier say it should be cutting its fees much harder to encourage the uptake of fast internet services which government policies have …

The former owners of Blue Star Group have swallowed a $173 million goodwill write-off and don’t look to be getting much from the sale of assets as the Australasian printing company is broken up. But the future of New Zealand’s largest commercial printer has been secured with the sale of the business to Australian private equity firm Mercury Capital and …

“You have to remember, Beijing has the population of Australia crammed into a space the size of Sydney.” Monday morning in Beijing today brought with it the beginning of the business program here in China. First stop for the day: Mahon Investments to visit David Mahon and Charlie Gao for a briefing. Both have vast experience with China and offered …

The supply of rental properties nationwide continues to outpace demand, Trade Me Property reported today in their analysis of 2012’s final quarter. critical essay definition However, the property listing service suggested some potential home buyers may be driven into the rental market as the supply of properties for sale flattens out. Trade Me Property compares the numbers of properties listed …

Christmas shoppers used plastic cards to spend up on pretty much everything except fuel, according to Statistics New Zealand. The value of electronic card spending in retail industries rose 0.3 percent in December from November. It was the third consecutive monthly increase. The value of total electronic card transactions rose by 0.4 percent in December. The data suggested a more …

Canterbury stands out in the latest Westpac McDermott Miller employment confidence survey, in which confidence overall stalled. The Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index rose to 99.1 in the December 2012 quarter from 98.9 in the September quarter. Canterbury registered an index of 113.5, up from 110.9, and the highest of the regions surveyed. “Employment confidence in Canterbury has risen …

ew Zealand Oil & Gas’s pursuit of a more diversified global portfolio will take an important step with the spudding of the Parit Minyak-2 well onshore in Sumatra, Indonesia in a little under a fortnight. NZOG has a 22.5 percent interest in the Kisaran block, in the prolifically productive central Sumatran region. The planned well, to which NZOG will contribute …

Former National Bank chairman John Anderson concluded Timaru businessman Allan Hubbard had misled investors in his tangled affairs, in a report written shortly before Hubbard’s death in a car accident in September 2011. The report by Anderson and Deloitte insolvency specialist Rod Pardington has been released after a 16 month wait that included an appeal to the Ombudsman’s Office, which …

Prime Minister John Key will visit Antarctica from 17 to 21 January to highlight New Zealand’s interests and activities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. Key will visit New Zealand science and environmental management programmes, view New Zealand’s historic hut conservation projects, and participate in a ceremony celebrating the installation of Maori artwork at Scott Base. “New Zealand has a history of ground-breaking exploration, scientific …