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The National Party has lost more than 10 percent of its support in two months, as measured by the New Zealand arm of Australian pollster Roy Morgan, to run neck and neck at 45 percent support, with its coalition partners, against a combination of the Labour and Green parties for the first time since five months before last September’s general election. Labour and the Greens …

Wall Street is set to sustain recent gains after the Nasdaq closed at a record high on Friday, amid better-than-expected earnings from companies including Google, and US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s comments that rate increases will be moderate. IBM, Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo and Morgan Stanley are among the companies scheduled to release their latest earnings in the coming days. “We’re …

John Key will have plenty on his plate this coming week. National has been on the backfoot since Labour blindsided it with its release of leaked Barfoot & Thompson data suggesting that Chinese investments comprised a disproportionate number of recent Auckland housing sales. Particularly those over the $1 million mark. While Key has been off on his holiday jaunt in …

When the New Zealand – Korea free trade agreement signed in March enters into force, tariffs will be eliminated on 48% of current goods. New Zealand’s exports to Korea current attract $229 million every year in duties. In the first year alone the free trade agreement will save an estimated $65 million in duties, and within 15 years of establishment the …

The sharp Kiwi economist who’s done some of the best analytics in the New Zealand/China economic relationship is contemplating a switch to running a business. NZ INC. hopes Shamubeel Eaqub stays engaged in the China space. There’s plenty of contentious issues on the table right now that could do with indepth analysis. Businessdesk earlier reported: Outspoken economist Shamubeel Eaqub is …

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, and also the 70th anniversary of Korea’s division into North and South. Last month the World Journalists Conference was held throughout South Korea under the theme ‘the 70th anniversary of the division of Korea: Thinking about unification on the Korean Peninsula’. Na Kyung-won, Chairperson of the Foreign …

The New Zealand dollar is heading for a 2.4 percent drop against the greenback this week after a slump in milk powder prices this week fuelled calls for the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates more aggressively to prop up the country’s biggest export sector. The kiwi fell to 65.37 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 71.29 cents on Friday …

A slump in the price of whole milk powder, New Zealand’s key dairy export, is likely to continue according to traders who are pricing in further declines on the NZX futures market. The price for whole milk powder dropped 13.1 percent to an average US$1,848 a tonne at the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction overnight on Wednesday as many of the monthly contracts failed …

Steel & Tube Holdings rose after the country’s biggest steel distribution company said it’s agreed to buy fastener distributor Manufacturing Suppliers for $32 million in a cash and scrip deal. The Petone-based company will pay $26 million in cash and $6 million in shares for Auckland-based MSL, which is best known for its Fortress Fasteners brand, which Steel & Tube will …

New Zealand wool prices rose at the latest auction as a decline in the local currency made it more attractive for overseas buyers. The price for clean 35-micron wool, a benchmark for crossbred wool used for carpets and accounting for the majority of New Zealand’s production, rose to $5.90 per kilogram at yesterday’s South Island auction, from $5.75/kg in last week’s …