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Blue Skies in Beijing again and guaranteed to stay so until the Apec Leaders Jamboree rolls through China’s Capital City. We’re here once again to talk trade; make new business relationships; soak up the trends; gain insights into the progress on TPP and FTAAP; gauge how China is handling the competing trade agendas and see at least 10 Asia Pacific …

By Charles Finny With the Republicans back in control of both the House and Senate in the US there are positive signs that the dysfunction apparent in recent years on the hill may be ending.  With both President Obama and the Republican Leadership stating a desire to work together on matters of national importance APEC 2014 and ancillary meetings offers …

Wellington City Council has signed off on a 165-bed Hilton Corp hotel and convention centre in a deal with a local developer Mark Dunajtschik it says will give the city low-cost, low-risk access to a facility that will add jobs and boost the capital’s economy. Under the proposal the council will pay an averaged $2.1 million a year to Dunajtschik under a …

The New Zealand dollar fell below a key support level of 77 US cents overnight, driven by a strengthening US currency on optimism about the outlook for the world’s largest economy. The kiwi touched 76.83 US cents, and was trading at 77.15 cents at 8am in Wellington, from 78.29 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index dropped to 76.51 from …

Wall Street rose, pushing the Dow to a record high, as the price of oil rebounded and Republicans won control of the Senate. In afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.53 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.47 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.11 percent. The Dow rose as shares of …

 Dairy product prices were relatively stable in the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, with the whole milk powder price index advancing. The GDT average winning price edged higher to US$2,649, up from US$2,646 three weeks ago, though the GDT price index slipped 0.3 percent. Some 45,499 tonnes of product was sold, down from 50,816 tonnes of product three weeks ago. Dairy prices …

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund, which was set up to partially fund the cost of a ballooning baby boomer pension bill, has ended a 12-year mandate with AMP Capital to manage part of its local equity portfolio. The pension fund’s manager, the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, terminated the active equities mandate effective from Oct. 30, it said in a statement. …

The government’s plan to increase the private provision of state-housing is part of a wider goal to alleviate the country’s most vulnerable by putting more cash in their pockets, Prime Minister John Key says. Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet press conference in Wellington, Key told reporters the government expects to provide more details about its social housing programme in the …

New Zealand shares rose, pushing the NZX 50 Index to its eighth consecutive record close, after Heartland New Zealand affirmed guidance. Genesis Energy and Infratil gained as investors hunted yield in a low interest rate environment. The NZX 50 Index rose 30.385 points, 0.6 percent, to 5418.219. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 13 fell and 14 were unchanged. Turnover was $84 million. Heartland climbed 3 percent to …

The switch from floating to fixed interest rates mortgages has impacted Westpac New Zealand’s net interest margin,which fell six basis points in the 2014 financial year. Net interest margin is the difference between what interest the bank charges for loans and what it has to pay for the money. It fell to 2.27 percent in the year ending Sept. 30, from …