New Zealand Market Report: New Zealand shares fell as recently listed Mighty River Power continued to dominate trading, dropping to within 1 cent of last week's offering price. PGG Wrightson shed more than 10 percent after cutting its guidance.The NZX 50 Index declined 25.78 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4645.85. Within the index, 29 stocks fell, nine rose and 12 were unchanged. Turnover was $163 million... Read more

The New Zealand dollar pared its loss in the local trading session after government figures showed growth in retail sales across most sectors and regions in the first three months of the year.The kiwi rose to 82.90 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 82.40 cents at 8am, little changed from 83.05 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index fell to 77.46 from 77.67 yesterday... Read more

Retail sales growth slows with warmer weather New Zealand retail sales slowed their pace of growth in the first three months of the year as the long, hot summer sapped consumer appetite to buy more clothing.The total volume of retail sales rose 0.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, to $17.62 billion in the three months ended March 31, from a revised quarterly pace of 1.9 percent in the December quarter, Statistics New Zealand says... Read more

The Government looks set to jump back to a $1 billion surplus in the 2014-15 year on the back of an accelerating economy, according to a Westpac forecast.Last year, the Government's books were expected to just squeak back into the black, but since then tax revenues have improved and a surplus now looks more assured... Read more

Budget to focus on social housing Income-related rental subsidies look set to be extended in tomorrow's Budget to tenants in community-owned housing.The move, recommended by an advisory group in 2010, has not happened until now because of the cost - likely to be in the order of $30 million a year.Prime Minister John Key said yesterday that there would be "a little bit of extra money" in this year's Budget because the economy was starting to grow... Read more

IPO floodgates open Three companies have revealed plans to list on the stock exchange since Friday's float of Mighty River Power and more are expected to come forward.Dairy producer Synlait Milk yesterday was the latest to confirm it is considering an initial public offer in what would be its second tilt at the sharemarket. Technology companies Wynyard Group and Serko confirmed possible listings on Monday... Read more

Research firm UBS has placed a "buy" recommendation on Mighty River Power shares and a 12 month target price of $2.82.Mighty River Power debuted on the share market on Friday at a premium to its $2.50 issue price. The shares traded as high as $2.73 before closing at $2.62 on the first day... Read more

Synlait Milk considers NZX listing. Synlait Milk, the dairy company controlled by China's Bright Dairy & Food, is considering an initial public offering in New Zealand three years after abandoning such a capital raising because of lack of investor demand.Bright Dairy emerged with a 51% stake in 2010, paying $82 million and said at the time it would consider a share market listing in three to five years.Bright Dairy would be entitled to new shares to retain its holding, it said back then. Synlait Ltd, associated with the company's founders, owns the rest... Read more

Doubt over SkyCity share boom. SkyCity Entertainment Group may not stand to gain as much financially as projected from the NZ International Convention Centre deal.Chris Gaskin of Devon Funds Management questioned whether Morningstar's predictions of a $200 million value uplift was too bullish... Read more

Infratil, which is mulling the float of its Z Energy chain of petrol stations, reported a drop in full-year profit after writing down the value of its UK airports and recognising accounting charges.Net profit fell to $3.4 million in the year ended March 31, from $51.6 million a year earlier, the Wellington-based company said in a statement. Operating revenue rose to $2.37 billion from $2.17 billion... Read more

Australian accounting software market leader MYOB is paying $136 million to buy BankLink, a New Zealand accounting platform it has used for years to supply secure bank feeds of a higher quality than it claims competitor software platforms offer.The move comes as the Australian accounting software market gears up for a tussle with American and British newcomers, posing competitive threats that will also have an impact on NZX-listed Xero, whose SME accounting platform is seeing strong uptake but is only around 2 per cent of Australian market share... Read more

Takeover opens floodgate, says rival. Accounting software competitors Xero and MYOB are at odds again, this time over who will benefit from MYOB's $136 million acquisition of Auckland software firm BankLink.MYOB yesterday prevailed in its second attempt to buy BankLink from the three entrepreneurs who founded firm it 27 years ago... Read more

KiwiSavers undeterred by contribution rise The increase in KiwiSaver contribution rates has failed to drive people away from the retirement savings scheme, according to the country's largest provider.John Body, managing director of ANZ Wealth, which owns fund manager OnePath, said it had seen "no evidence" of people dropping out as a result of the change.From April 1 minimum employee and employer contribution rates increased from 2 per cent to 3 per cent.... Read more

PGG Wrightson annual earnings to fall by up to 27 percent on drought, lower livestock values... Read more

Air New Zealand, the national carrier, is reviewing its flights from Japan as a decline in the yen crimps the value of Japanese sales when it brings the money home.The New Zealand dollar has surged 17 per cent against the Japanese yen so far this year as aggressive monetary easing in Japan contrasts with expectations the next move in New Zealand interest rates will be up... Read more

Former Foodstuffs boss Tony Carter will take up the chair at Air New Zealand's board when existing chairman John Palmer steps down after September's annual meeting.The announcement comes amid growing anticipation of the government's planned sell-down of its three-quarter stake in the airline.... Read more

Trans-Tasman accountant merger plan. New Chartered Accountants Institute chief executive Craig Norgate says he has been working to allay any fears by members that a merger with its counterpart across the Tasman will just be another "Aussie takeover".Officially Norgate became the boss of the institute on March 1, and he is now in charge of a process to drive a merger with the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia... Read more

Investment trusts record highest returnsNew Zealand real estate investment trusts recorded stellar returns this past year, according to the Investment Property Databank (IPD) and reinforced by industry commentators at a seminar in Auckland today... Read more

Cash profit static as on-farm expenses bite. This year's drought may have soured the memory, but the Waikato 2011-2012 dairy season was "outstanding", with average production up nearly 10 per cent without an increase in cow numbers, says accountancy firm CooperAitken.The Morrinsville and Matamata-based company, in its latest "dairy farming averages" report, found its owner-operator clients achieved a production increase of 13 per cent... Read more

Kiwifruit export tax announced to combat Psa... Read more

China threatens survival of fishing industry. An international agency has warned that China is using vast subsidies to threaten the survivability of the fishing industry in the Western and Central Pacific - which includes New Zealand.The alarm has been sounded in a briefing paper written for the 17-nation Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), which says that unless something is done at a high level, non-Chinese fishing operations are in trouble... Read more

FMA slams Ross allegations. Suggestions the Financial Markets Authority knew about David Ross long before his business was raided were "crap", the regulator's chief executive told a conference this morning... Read more

Apartment owners lose Mainzeal hoist case The High Court has ruled the Bank of New Zealand has priority over the owners of a leaky Auckland apartment building in a spat over two hoists formerly owned by the collapsed Mainzeal Construction.Mainzeal went under while two-thirds of the way through $15 million of remedial work to make the 97-apartment Hobson Gardens complex watertight.The apartment owners claimed they then had the right to seize the hoists worth $350,000 each under the construction contract once the receivers shut down work on the site... Read more

Workers at Stockton opencast mine have rejected proposed shift changes by a majority of around two-thirds, their union has revealed.Workers on the collective agreement have been voting on changing from the current predominant seven days on, seven off shift pattern to working Monday to Friday. Solid Energy also wanted them to work nine-hour rather than 10-hour shifts... Read more

A giant subdivision of more than 2000 houses in an area bigger than Hagley Park has been given the go-ahead for north Christchurch.Highfield - sitting between Redwood, Queen Elizabeth II Drive and the Styx River - will contain 2200 houses and be home to as many residents as suburbs such as Cashmere or Woolston... Read more

In just over a year, PledgeMe, a crowd funding website has raised more than million dollars for projects ranging from artificial hand to a fridge.PledgeMe is NZ's largest crowd funding source where the public can fund community, cultural, scientific and sustainability projects through their website... Read more

Opinion - Chalkie/Tim Hunter: Central bank's warning shot well targeted First-home buyers fear not: the Reserve Bank's hit on low-deposit loans is a good thing ... probably... Read more

Opinion - Rod Oram: China can show us the way At first glance it seems improbable that ambitious NZ companies could learn much from Huawei, a remarkable corporate success story."... Read more

Australian Market Report: Australian shares edged higher as a weaker dollar lifted companies with high exposure to the US, but trading was subdued ahead of the federal budget.The S&P/ASX 200 ended 10.7 points, or 0.2 per cent, higher at 5221, not far from the intraday five-year high of 5242 marked last week. The All Ordinaries also rose 7.7 points, or 0.15 per cent, at 5202.5... Read more

Dollar slumps on growth outlook. The Australian dollar has fallen to an 11- month low as the government’s forecast of slower growth fanned speculation the Reserve Bank will cut borrowing costs again to support the economy.The dollar touched 99.08 US cents after the federal budget was released, the weakest since June 2012, before trading at 99.22 US cents later this evening, down 0.3 per cent from the close yesterday... Read more

Budget flags $19.4bn deficit this year... Read more

The Federal Government has taken a swipe at so-called middle-class welfare by abolishing the baby bonus in a deficit budget that delivers almost no traditional election-year sweeteners.Instead Treasurer Wayne Swan says there will be "targeted, sustainable" cuts to bring the budget back into the black in four years' time."We haven't approached this budget in relation to opinion polls. We're in this for the long run - the long-run reforms," he said... Read more

Budget nod given to Queensland infrastructure projects Queensland's peak motoring body the RACQ is pleased the Federal Government is still spending on the state's transport infrastructure, despite deficit concerns.Treasurer Wayne Swan has announced federal spending on a range of Queensland projects.... Read more

The Northern Territory has revealed a $1.18 billion deficit for the coming financial year in today's budget but said it will restore balance by 2018. The planned budget deficit is slightly higher than projected in the government's mini-budget in December... Read more

Investors still keen on government debt. Demand for Australian Commonwealth Government Securities (CGS) remains strong, reducing the cost of borrowing for the federal government as yields remain at near record lows.Governments around the world borrow money by issuing bonds and other securities.The 2013/14 budget papers said CGS yields fell to record low levels during the 2012/13 financial year and remain historically low... Read more

Owner-occupier home loan approvals have posted the strongest jump in four years.Personal and business financing are also showing signs of growth, following a series of interest rate cuts.But home loan approvals are experiencing the strongest revival, rising by 5.8 per cent in March to cap off a 9.3 per cent increase since the start of 2013... Read more

Australia keeps AAA rating after budget... Read more

Chamber says Australia costly place for business. The Chamber of Minerals and Energy says the resources sector faces an uphill battle to win over investors because Australia is now arguably the most expensive place in the world to do business.Falling commodity prices and increasing base costs have seen several mining companies reduce exploration activity or put their operations on hold... Read more

Tax crackdown expected to upset mining industry One of the growth sectors in the wake of the 2013 Budget could be in accountancy and taxation advice after a raft of business tax changes.Some, like shifting the burden of monthly Pay As You Go (PAYG) tax instalments to most businesses (including sole traders and trusts) - which is expected to raise an additional $1.4 billion over four years - had been well telegraphed.Others, principally a $1.1 billion crackdown on tax deductions for mining exploration expenditure, may come as a shock to business and attract fierce opposition.... Read more

Mining tax revenue slumps. Revenue targets for the Gillard government’s mining tax have been downgraded yet again, with Treasury now expecting just over $200 million from the controversial measure this financial year.The new downgrade means net receipts from the tax will be just 10 per cent of the $2 billion that was forecast in October, a figure that was itself a downgrade from the $3 billion predicted at the May 2012 budget... Read more

BHP chief on austerity drive. Newly appointed BHP Billiton boss Andrew Mackenzie has slashed the mining giant’s capital spend by 18 per cent, and flagged more ‘‘substantial’’ cuts in future, reinforcing concerns that the mining investment boom has well and truly peaked... Read more

Bauxite flags share buyback. Shares in Bauxite Resources firmed after the company announced a $2.8 million share buyback of up to 10 per cent of its issued stock.The board decided on the buyback because it believes its prevailing share price does not reflect the true value of the company... Read more

Mining services provider Macmahon Holdings' shares have shot up by more than 20 per cent after it detailed positive growth in a "changing and challenging environment".Macmahon in an update on Tuesday said the sale of its construction arm to Leighton Holdings had removed any uncertainty and risk over the company... Read more

Australia's Intrepid Mines urged shareholders to reject a bid to oust the board on Tuesday but offered no new information on how it plans to try to win back an 80 per cent interest in a huge copper and gold prospect in Indonesia.Intrepid set a June 20 date for a vote on whether to boot five directors - a vote that has been proposed by new shareholder Quantum Pacific, which says it is better placed than the current team to win back rights to the Tujuh Bukit project... Read more

Shares in South Boulder Mines jumped after the company said it had reached agreement with the Eritrean government on the terms of a 50/50 joint venture over its Colluli potash project in the African nation.South Boulder described the agreement as a major milestone in the development of the project, saying it provided certainty as to the economic and fiscal basis under which the project could be developed."This certainty is expected to assist ongoing discussions with potential strategic investors," the company said in a statement.The company will fully fund the project's development, at an expected debt/equity ratio of 70/30.... Read more

Westfield's first-quarter sales, while flat in Australia, are expected to be boosted by an improved performance from its overseas businesses.The world's biggest retail owner by value reported sales growth in Australia of 0.3 per cent for the quarter and confirmed that rents for new leases in specialty stores had declined by about 5 per cent... Read more

Farmers dump grain at Premier's office. A farm lobby group has dumped several tonnes of grain on the road to the Premier's office this morning, protesting the size of the State Government's rescue package for farmers.... Read more

Indonesia has announced an increase in the live cattle export quota for Australia.Northern Territory Minister for Primary Industry Willem Westra Van Holthe and Queensland Agriculture Minister John McVeigh are visiting Indonesia for talks on the live cattle trade... Read more

Multinational businesses are the prime targets of a sweeping plan to close down corporate tax loopholes, in a move expected to raise an extra $4.2 billion over the next four years... Read more

ASIC drops Westpoint case, Carey to sue. An asset stripping case against former Westpoint officers Norman Carey and Graeme Rundle has spectacularly collapsed after the surprise emergence of a key document two weeks into the trial.The document could prove the innocence of the property entrepreneurs... Read more

Tinkler tilt at Blackwood 'breached directors' duties' Liquidators for troubled coal baron Nathan Tinkler's Mulsanne Resources allege he did not act in the company's best interests by pursuing a $28.4 million share placement agreement with miner Blackwood Corporation last year,... Read more

James Packer signs $3 million jersey sponsorship deal with the South Sydney Rabbitohs Billionaire casino tycoon James Packer has jumped on board the South Sydney Rabbitohs, grabbing a $3 million jersey sponsorship deal from arch rival The Star.In a deal done with the club's owner and close friend Russell Crowe, Mr Packer's Crown casino will be on the front of the Rabbitohs' jersey from next season... Read more

Bankwest exec named new Aussie CEO. One of the few survivors of Halifax Bank of Scotland's 12-year reign at Bankwest, Ian Corfield, has continued his climb up the Australian banking ladder to become chief executive of home lender Aussie.John Symond, who set up the company formerly known as Aussie Home Loans, said yesterday it was his recommendation to hire Mr Corfield, who is Bankwest's head of business banking... Read more

Chinese solar panels allegedly labelled Australian made as ACCC investigates... Read more

Opinion - Adele Ferguson: Lies, damned lies ... and budgets... Read more

Opinion - Robert Gottliebsen: The last Gillard government budget before the election opens the way for one final but deadly kick at small enterprises. But it also sets the scene for a sharp lift in economic activity under an Abbott government and a new set of rules for superannuation funds... Read more

Opinion - Ross Gittins: This is the weirdest budget you or I are ever likely to see. That doesn't make it bad - just very strange.... Read more

Opinion - Stephen Koukoulas: This is the budget where the government is spending like a sober sailor.... Read more

U.S. Market Report: Bulls back in the driver's seat. A growing sense of optimism about the U.S. economy helped lift stocks to record levels Tuesday.The Dow Jones industrial average the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gained between 0.6% and 0.9%, pushing both the Dow and S&P 500 to new record trading highs.... Read more

North/South Americas Market Report: North and South American markets are higher today with shares in U.S. leading the region. The S&P 500 is up 0.80% while Mexico's IPC is up 0.37% and Brazil's Bovespa is up 0.27%... Read more

European Market Report: European markets finished higher today with shares in London leading the region. The FTSE 100 is up 0.82% while Germany's DAX is up 0.72% and France's CAC 40 is up 0.53%... Read more

Asian Market Report: Asian markets finished broadly lower today with shares in China leading the region. The Shanghai Composite is down 1.11% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng is off 0.26% and Japan's Nikkei 225 is lower by 0.16%... Read more

Commodities - Oil: Brent crude oil fell on Tuesday after a leading energy watchdog forecast the supply-demand balance of world oil supplies would be "more comfortable" over the next five years... Read more

Commodities - Gold: Gold prices fell on Tuesday, as economic optimism and another intraday record high in U.S. equities sapped bullion's safe-haven appeal. The precious metal is set to fall for a fourth consecutive session. It erased earlier gains after the S&P 500 index rallied about 1 percent on broad gains in shares in banks and financial institutions... Read more

Import prices fell in April due to a drop in oil costs, a positive sign for household finances that also pointed to benign inflation pressures.... Read more

Stocks and bonds under Fed pressure... Read more

U.S. oil boom leaves OPEC sidelined from demand growth. Rising U.S. shale oil production will help meet most of the world's new oil demand in the next five years, even if the global economy picks up steam, leaving little room for OPEC to lift output without risking lower prices, the West's energy agency said... Read more

U.S. hedge fund calls for Sony Entertainment spin-off. Billionaire hedge fund investor Daniel Loeb on Tuesday called on Sony Corp to spin off its lucrative entertainment arm, setting the stage for a clash between his activist Wall Street fund and management at the Japanese electronics maker.Loeb said his Third Point hedge fund had accumulated a little more than 6 percent of Sony's shares - a stake worth $1.1 billion - making it the largest stakeholder in the inventor of the Walkman portable music player and Trinitron TV... Read more

Credit-rating agencies poised to avoid overhaul. Three years after Congress told federal regulators to consider changing the way credit-rating agencies are paid, the industry appears poised to dodge a major overhaul.The ratings firms have been widely criticized for contributing to the 2008 financial crisis by issuing high ratings to toxic securities backed by residential mortgages... Read more

NY court dismisses fraud claims vs. Goldman over Abacus CDO A New York appeals court dismissed a case against Goldman Sachs Group Inc brought by a bond insurer who claimed it was fraudulently induced to insure the bank's Abacus product tied to subprime mortgages... Read more

SodaStream pops on strong outlook. SodaStream shares jumped 13% Tuesday, as investors welcomed the company's upbeat outlook and analyst upgrades."Our goal is to be a billion dollar company by 2016," said CEO Daniel Birnbaum, at SodaStream's very first analyst meeting. That would nearly double the $550 million the company expects to rake in this year... Read more

Pimco pares risk on bet monetary easing distorts markets Pacific Investment Management Co., home to the world’s biggest fixed-income fund, is shying away from risky assets as it sees a growing disconnect between the performances of financial markets and the global economy... Read more

Las Vegas Sands Corp., the casino operator controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, owes $70 million to a Hong Kong businessman for his help in obtaining a Macau gaming license, a Nevada jury said.The jury in Las Vegas today returned a verdict in the second trial over Richard Suen’s claim that meetings he helped arrange for Adelson with Chinese government officials in Beijing were instrumental to Sands getting permission to operate casinos in the former Portuguese colony in 2002. The Nevada Supreme Court in 2010 reversed a $43.8 million jury award for Suen... Read more

Dish Network Corp said on Tuesday it will sell $2.5 billion in debt to help fund a $25 billion bid for Sprint Nextel Corp, and that it believes it has answered all questions posed by a special committee of Sprint's board... Read more

Shareholder advisory firm Glass Lewis wants Goldman Sachs to overhaul how it pays its top executives.The firm said Goldman's rationale for paying high level executives, including CEO Lloyd Blankfein, is largely arbitrary and not governed by any identifiable formula... Read more

Former BlackRock fund manager arrested in insider trading probe... Read more

After buoyant debut, U.S.-E.U. trade talks face a growing list of issues Supporters of a U.S.-European free-trade deal have begun damping expectations about its immediate benefits amid a series of emerging disputes that could complicate the creation of the world’s largest trade zone... Read more

Growth will return to the euro zone's recession-mired economy in the second half of this year, but economists see no chance it will recover strongly until at least 2015, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday... Read more

EU to start talks with non-EU countries on tax evasion. European Union finance ministers have agreed to start talks with five none-EU countries in a bid to tighten rules on bank secrecy and tax evasion.The European Commission will now negotiate with Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Andorra and San Marino on new rules for swapping bank account information... Read more

Divisions hamper Europe's plans to tackle failing banks. The European Central Bank clashed with Germany on Tuesday over how quickly the euro zone should complete a system to deal with failing banks.A separate rift also emerged at a European Union finance ministers meeting over whether or when big depositors should suffer losses, as they did in Cyprus's bailout... Read more

UK faces £12bn cost for 'totally useless' EU bank crisis fund. Only Britain and Sweden have expressed opposition to EU rules requiring the creation of national banking resolution funds as early as 2015 to help meet the cost of restructuring failed banks without taxpayer bailouts... Read more

Rivals warn of boost to Google dominance from antitrust offer Rivals say Google could reinforce its dominance unless EU regulators win more concessions from the Internet search giant over accusations it restricts consumer choice and competition... Read more

EU probes oil majors on price manipulation. European authorities have raided offices of oil majors Shell, BP and Statoil in an investigation of suspected manipulation of oil prices, one of the biggest cross-border actions since the Libor rigging scandal.Authorities have sharpened scrutiny of financial benchmarks around the world since slapping large fines on some of the world's biggest banks for rigging interest rate benchmarks... Read more

Fitch raises Greek credit rating to 'B-'... Read more

Bloomberg criticised by Bank of England over data monitoring... Read more

Rate rise will trigger economic shock, former BoE policymakers warnRaising interest rates and unwinding quantitative easing will cause an unavoidable economic “shock” even after the recovery is established, two former Bank of England policymakers have warned.... Read more

John Lewis says UK consumers losing fear factor John Lewis JLP.UL, Britain's biggest department store group, said UK consumers were slowly becoming less fearful about their financial prospects, adding to optimism a spate of relatively upbeat economic news can be sustained.... Read more

European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. (EAD) posted higher first-quarter earnings as its Airbus unit more than doubled profit on higher deliveries of commercial jets.Earnings before interest, tax and one-time items rose 56 percent to 741 million euros ($963 million), while Airbus profit on that basis increased to 608 million euros, EADS said in a statement today... Read more

Poundland has cut its prices to 97p in some stores in a bid to undercut rivals charging 99p. Jim McCarthy, chief executive of the low-cost retailer, told Retail Week that the move was part of the company's "competitor response" strategy, which also includes promotional vouchers... Read more

South African workers at the world's No. 3 platinum producer Lonmin launched a wildcat strike on Tuesday, halting all mine operations and sparking fears of a return to the violence that rocked the industry last year... Read more

Smartphone shipments to India rise sharply. Smartphone manufacturers shipped 5.7 million handsets to India during the first three months of this year, a 64% increase from year-earlier levels, underlining the Indian consumer's increasing appetite for mobile phones that can browse the Internet, send email and download videos and music... Read more

India's largest mobile phone operator, Bharti Airtel, has agreed to sell a 5% stake in itself to the Qatar Foundation Endowment (QFE).The Qatari investment vehicle will acquire new shares in Bharti for $1.26bn (£810m).The deal comes as the Indian telecom firm looks to strengthen its finances... Read more

India's top drugmaker Ranbaxy Laboratories is to pay a record fine in the US for lying to officials and selling badly made generic drugs.Ranbaxy said its US subsidiary would pay a $500m (£327m) fine, the biggest handed down to a generic drugmaker... Read more

The European Commission plans to send a formal warning to China that it is ready to levy sanctions against telecoms equipment makers Huawei and ZTE Corp over illegal subsidies, people close to the matter said. EU trade chief Karel De Gucht is set to win support from the bloc's executive on Wednesday to send the warning letter and show China's new president, Xi Jinping, that Brussels is serious about countering what it says is state support... Read more

Opinion - David Weidner,: Facebook and ruined reputations A year later, did the Facebook IPO team pay a price?... Read more

Opinion - Paul R. La Monica: Will Google hit $1000 or is it the next Apple? Shares of Google are up more than 25% so far this year and the stock hit a new all-time high above $888 Tuesday morning... Read more