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The New Zealand dollar was little changed in local trading after stronger than expected US employment figures stoked demand for the greenback on a growing expectation the Federal Reserve will have to hike interest rates. The kiwi traded at 77.67 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 77.65 cents at 8am, and 77.62 cents at the close of trading in New York …

The latest major power cut in Auckland is the fifth to hit the region since 1998. The biggest was the six-week Mercury power outage in 1998 that involved the failure of four power cables due to overheating. It had an estimated long-term economic impact equivalent to 0.1 to 0.3 per cent of New Zealand’s gross domestic product and over half of …

New Zealand business confidence continued to slide in the September quarter, as the positive outlook seen earlier in the year wasn’t backed up by similarly strong actual economic activity, according to the latest Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research. A net 20 percent of businesses remained optimistic in the September quarter, down from 32 percent …

Rangatira, the Wellington-based investment group, has lifted its stake in Magritek after the magnetic resonance imaging firm met sales targets. The new funds will help boost the firm’s global sales. The investment firm lifted its stake in Magritek to 18 percent from 12 percent for an undisclosed sum after the high-tech manufacturer met certain sales milestones, triggering an undertaking made at the …

Chorus, the telecommunications network operator, is seeing growth in its high-speed fixed line connections as it continues to roll out the bulk of the government-sponsored ultrafast broadband fibre network, and is talking up the value of its lines as it tries to deflate the threat of price regulation. The Wellington-based company added 6,000 fixed line connections in the three months …

The New Zealand dollar bounced as exuberance for a strengthening US dollar waned after its rapid gain over the past three months, and ahead of this morning’s New Zealand Economic Institute of Research’s quarterly survey of business opinion. The kiwi rose to 78.21 US cents at 8am in Wellington from 77.67 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index increased to 76.37 from 76.21 yesterday. …

Wall Street moved lower as investors positioned themselves on the eve of the US third-quarter earnings season. Shares of Micron dropped, last down 4.2 percent, after Samsung said it plans to spend US$14.7 billion on a new chip facility in South Korea. Micron is the largest US chipmaker. “Semiconductor has been Samsung’s long-time key business, while the company can no …

New Zealand property values rose at the slowest annual pace in 15 months in September, while certainty after the general election, new spring listings and interest rates remaining on hold renewed interest in the market, according to state-owned valuer Quotable Values. Property values rose 6.4 percent nationwide in September from a year earlier, slowing from an annual pace of 6.9 percent …

The biggest winner in today’s new Cabinet line-up from Prime Minister John Key is Simon Bridges, who moves from 18th to ninth in the rankings and picks up the politically important transport portfolio from Gerry Brownlee. Returning to the environment portfolio, previously held by Amy Adams, is Nick Smith, signalling a softening in the government’s intended reforms to the Resource …

New Zealand employment confidence rose to a six-year high in the September quarter as sentiment in Canterbury bolstered the nation’s outlook on jobs, according to the latest Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index survey. The index rose to 111.5 in the September quarter from 109.9 in the June quarter, in a measure were a number above 100 indicates optimists outweigh pessimists. …