New Zealand Market Report - New Zealand shares extended this year's 14 percent gain on the NZX 50 Index, with Tower leading the advance after completing an asset selldown. Fletcher Building, the biggest company on the index, paced gainers and MightyRiverPower rose on its debut.The NZX 50 Index rose 13.44 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4652.77. Within the index, 21 stocks rose, 16 fell and 13 were unchanged. Turnover was $142 million... Read more

The New Zealand dollar is heading for a 1.8 percent weekly fall against the greenback after a handful of curveballs this week – including confirmation of a Reserve Bank intervention – prompted speculative investors to trim their long positions.The kiwi fell to 83.54 US cents at 5pm from 83.75 cents at 8am and 84.56 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index slipped to 77.83 from 77.97 yesterday and is heading for a 0.9 percent weekly decline. A BusinessDesk survey of six strategists on Monday predicted the currency may rise this week... Read more

Retail spending rebounded last month from an Easter-related dip in March.Spending charged to electronic cards - about two-thirds of retail spending - rose 0.6 per cent in April following a 0.4 per cent decline in March. Economists had attributed March's fall to the unusually early timing of Easter this year, which meant one more public holiday in March and one fewer in April... Read more

An economist says the economy is improving modestly but the Government needs to be thinking long term.Just yesterday, figures showed the unemployment rate falling and also a rise in jobs being created and hours worked... Read more

Mighty River shares find their range after strong start After a solid debut Mighty River Power shares have found a trading range with most of the first day action coming from institutional investors.Having opened at $2.73, up 23c, shares in the electricity company settled down to trade at around $2.65 – a 6% premium on the $2.50 issue price.Shortly before 4pm, more than 50 million shares had changed hands at a value of $135 million.... Read more

English says MRP stock debuted in expected range... Read more

Meridian the next cab off rank. Finance Minister tipped to reveal plans for partial sale of power generator in next week's Budget Shares in Mighty River Power listed on the NZX at a healthy premium yesterday, paving the way for the partial sale of the jewel among the state's power generators - Meridian Energy - before the year's end.Finance Minister Bill English is expected to detail sale plans for Meridian - which has extensive South Island hydro and wind generation assets, along with an energy retailing wing - at next Thursday's Budget, investment sources said... Read more

TrustPower, the utility controlled by Infratil, reported a 6 percent fall in underlying annual earnings as it went faced a tougher environment with dwindling customer numbers and thinner margins. The shares gained.Underlying earnings, which strips out one-off impairment charges and changes in the fair value of assets, fell to $127.3 million, or 40.5 cents per share, in the 12 months ended March 31, from $135.3 million, or 43 cents, a year earlier, the Tauranga-based company said in a statement. Net profit fell 6.3 percent to $123.4 million, or 39.2 cents per share.... Read more

TrustPower's annual profit lines were down more than $8 million because of fewer customers, lower generation because of the summer drought and the cost of an Australian wind farm development.But the level of regulatory risk in New Zealand has sparked more concerns for the energy generator and retailer... Read more

Warehouse Group, the country's biggest listed retailer, boosted third-quarter sales at its Red Sheds and stationery outlets, and has kept its annual guidance unchanged.Sales, excluding recent acquisitions Noel Leeming and Torpedo7, rose 6.2 percent to $418.7 million in the three months ended April 28 from the same period a year earlier, the Auckland-based retailer said in a statement. Including the appliance retailer and online group, sales from continuing operations were $557.1 million. Warehouse kept its annual adjusted profit guidance at between $73 million and $76 million... Read more

Air NZ makes u-turn in cartel fight Air New Zealand has made an 11th hour bid to withdraw admissions it made to the Commerce Commission in the long-running air freight cartel case... Read more

Westpac Banking Corp's New Zealand fund management arm contracted out the management of more than $650 million of its listed New Zealand stocks and property holdings to a new firm started by its employees.BT Funds Management (NZ), which has $4.6 billion of funds under management, will hand over its equity and property portfolios to Salt Funds Management, owned by its former equity and property managers Paul Harrison and Matthew Goodson... Read more

Fidelity Life Assurance has acquired most of Tower's life insurance business for about $145 million in cash and liabilities, propelling the closely held company to the third-largest in the market.Fidelity, whose businesses include life insurance, business insurance and KiwiSaver, is acquiring most of Tower's non-participating life insurance. The Auckland-based company has a strategy of growing organically and through acquisitions, though assets such as Tower's life business "don't come along very often," said chief executive Milton Jennings... Read more

Stop-gap Auckland housing plan announced Auckland mayor Len Brown and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith have announced a new housing accord as a stop-gap measure until the unitary plan comes into effect in three years... Read more

High-country farmer subdivision profits released... Read more

McDonald's resurrection of Georgie Pie could damage the healthier, more upmarket image the company has created for its brand over the past few years, says a marketing expert.The country's biggest fast food operator announced yesterday that it will begin selling a Steak Mince 'N' Cheese pie at 11 of its stores in Auckland and the Waikato next month... Read more

Wellington fashion label Starfish has gone into liquidation, with founder Laurie Foon saying the current business model is not working for small designers.The business was placed into liquidation on Wednesday and is now for sale. Liquidator John Fisk, of PricewaterhouseCoopers, said a report was yet to be completed but between the retail and wholesale businesses about $300,000 was owed to creditors... Read more

A discontinued Serious Fraud Office investigation into Hanover Finance and related companies cost the taxpayer an estimated $1.1 million, the agency says.The SFO last week confirmed it is not laying criminal charges against anyone associated with Hanover after a 32-month investigation.“Investigations of this scale are expensive and time consuming,” acting SFO chief executive Simon McArley says in a press release today... Read more

Meat reform group on a roll with more meetings... Read more

A Company with $28 million to invest in seafood research over the next seven years has hooked itself a new general manager.Mike Mandeno will take up the role at Seafood Innovations, a joint venture research company of Seafood New Zealand and Plant and Food Research, in late June... Read more

Strong clearance rate concludes NZB 2013 National SaleThe Broodmare Session of NZB’s 2013 National Weanling, Broodmare & Mixed Bloodstock Sale concluded proceedings today at Karaka, with 162 of the 232 broodmares offered through the ring selling for $1,026,900 at a strong clearance rate of 81%... Read more

New Zealand guest nights spent in short-term commercial accommodation recorded the biggest gain in almost four years in March as both kiwis and tourists basked in the nation's long hot summer.Guest nights rose 6.7 percent in March, the biggest monthly gains since July 2009, following a 2.4 percent gain in February, according to Statistics New Zealand. Domestic guest nights rose 8.7 percent and international gained 3.2 percent... Read more

Terry Butler's widow pleads guilty to misleading investors. The wife of former Dominion Finance director Terry Butler, who died in March, has pleaded guilty to misleading investors ahead of her trial next month.Ann Butler, who was also a director of the collapsed financier, pleaded guilty to seven Securities Act charges, which include making untrue statements in a Dominion Finance Group prospectus and investment statement, and making untrue statements in a North South Finance prospectus and investment statement.She will be sentenced on June 14.... Read more

Opinion - Angela Sarten: Beware the taxing aspect of farm sales... Read more

Opinion - Jeff Matthews: The true cost of NZ super yet to be faced... Read more

Opinion - Brian Gaynor: Time for APN's NZ assets to float locally Most Australian companies say economic conditions are better in New Zealand than across the Ditch... Read more

Analysis - Greg Thompson: Threat of capital gains tax will impact govt agenda... Read more

Analysis/Opinion - Greg Ninniess: Property a hit for investors too... Read more

Australian Market Report - ASX inches closer to five-year high. Australia's benchmark index edged up 0.2 per cent on Friday to close at a five-year high on expectations of higher earnings for firms with strong US exposure after the greenback surged across the board overnight.Gains were, however, capped by a broad sell-off in banking stocks.The Australian dollar held near 11-month lows against the US dollar on Friday after the greenback took out huge chart levels against a host of currencies... Read more

The Australian dollar hovered near its weakest in 11 months on Friday after a resurgent greenback took out huge chart levels overnight, leaving it on track to end the week with hefty losses... Read more

The Australian government has sold $600 million of April 21, 2024 Treasury bonds.... Read more

RBA cuts inflation outlook as dollar, mining-boom peak weigh on growth... Read more

There are even fewer inflation hurdles for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut the cash rate further, if need be.The RBA's May Statement on Monetary Policy, released today, cut its consumer prices index (CPI) forecast to 2.25 per cent for the year to June 2013, from the 3.0 per cent published in its February statement... Read more

Crown gets go ahead to lift Echo stake The NSW casino regulator has given the green light to James Packer’s Crown to lift its stake in Echo Entertainment.Crown applied in February last year to lift its stake in the rival casino operator from 10 per cent to 25 per cent.However, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (IGLA) will only allow Crown to lift its stake to 23 per cent, not the requested 25 per cent... Read more

Medical centres operator and pathology group Primary Health Care has lifted its earnings guidance for the financial year by $10 million.The company now expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to be between $380 million and $390 million.It also expects earnings per share growth of 24 to 29 per cent.... Read more

ANZ Bank will cut its mortgage rates by a bigger margin than this week’s official rate cut, lowering mortgage rates by 0.27 percentage points.The cut, which comes after the Reserve Bank this week cut the cash rate by 0.25 percentage points, takes ANZ's standard variable mortgage rate to 6.13 per cent.It means ANZ's mortgage rate is equal to the standard variable rate charged by NAB, which has had the cheapest advertised mortgage rates for almost four years... Read more

NAB may now pass on full cuts National Australia Bank chief executive Cameron Clyne concedes it will be difficult to hold back part of any future interest rate cuts from borrowers, because the war for deposits that was pushing up costs has eased... Read more

Mining boom near its peak, says RBA... Read more

Oil Search is eyeing a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Gulf of Papua before its flagship Papua New Guinea project is finished.While the company's main focus has been helping deliver the $19 billion PNG LNG project it is a joint venture partner in, that project is now 80 per cent complete... Read more

Coal seam gas concerns damp fond farewell for Santos head. Outgoing Santos chairman Peter Coates' last annual meeting address was hijacked by questioning of the company's coal seam gas operations.Mr Coates' hopes for a fond farewell quickly evaporated due to persistent questions by farmers and shareholders at the Adelaide meeting... Read more

BHP's Mackenzie has long to-do list The new chief faces a more sober time for resources but won't be sitting back... Read more

Moly Mines will sell ore from its Spinifex Ridge iron ore project to Mineral Resources for about $38 million as part of a mine gate sales agreement.MineRes will operate the mine but Moly will retain ownership of the tenements and rights to develop its shelved molybdenum/copper project at Spinifex Ridge... Read more

Belgian construction giant Besix Group will buy out company director Kevin Seymour's stake in Watpac Ltd to secure a 15.6 per cent share in the Queensland-based company, after winning approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board. Watpac chairman Chris Freeman said in a statement today that the board "welcomed Besix as our major shareholder"... Read more

Investment banks Macquarie Capital are set to assit Centuria Capital launch the initial public offering (IPO) of its first real estate investment trust,... Read more

Holden has opened the order books for the new Holden Commodore across Australia today ahead of its showroom debut next month - and punters can bet on its sales success... Read more

Property group Mirvac will pay $584 million for seven office properties across Australia, including Perth's Allendale Square, as it looks to increase its ownership of inner-city workplaces.Mirvac has agreed to buy 90 Collins Street in Melbourne and Allendale Square in Perth from General Electric Real Estate Investment Australia.It will also buy five Sydney CBD properties with redevelopment opportunities, also from GE... Read more

Marylyn New says she has proven her business acumen after completing a successful $121 million exit from Perth's hotel industry.Speaking just days after selling her remaining business, the Esplanade River Suites in Como, to Chinese investment group Narada for $31 million, Ms New yesterday said she had enjoyed her time in hotels but never set out to "make money"... Read more

Spanish fashion giant Zara has revealed plans to open a three-storey, $5 million store in Murray Street mall, putting it at the forefront of the race between big-name international retailers entering the Perth market.While speculation has been rife that British brand Topshop is looking for space in the city, Zara's plan to come to WA became official yesterday after a development application was lodged with the City of Perth... Read more

ATO in crackdown on wealthy tax cheats. Authorities have homed in on more than 100 wealthy Australians after a global investigation revealed a series of shell companies believed to be hiding tens of millions of dollars from the tax man.And next week each will get a letter from the Australian Tax Office asking them offering tax bill discounts of up to 80 per cent for those who come clean... Read more

Judge reserves decision on Groves. A Federal Court judge in Brisbane has reserved his decision on an application by failed ABC Learning Centres tycoon Eddy Groves to live overseas.Mr Groves has applied to the Federal Court to live in Canada with his new wife, who is setting up educational facilities.He needs the permission of his bankruptcy trustees who say he can go, but only if he posts a $500,000 security bond... Read more

Cricket Australia, Nine set for courtroom showdown. A May 31 courtroom showdown looms between Cricket Australia and the Nine Network over the rights to broadcast the sport on free-to-air television.... Read more

Analysis - Michael Janda: Why did the Reserve Bank cut interest rates on Tuesday? Because it could, seems to be the answer from its latest detailed statement... Read more

Opinion - Michael Pascoe: Beware the Aussie dollar bear... Read more

Opinion - Stephen Bartholomeusz: ANZ opens a new front in the battle of the banks For most of the period since ANZ Bank adopted its unique approach to setting interest rates in late 2011 its departures from its peers have been largely about timing rather than direction... Read more

Opinion - Ben Butler: Rio's warm and fuzzy gathering. It seems that not even $13 billion of write-downs can dislodge the genteel facade erected by Rio Tinto shareholders.... Read more

Opinion - Peter Trute: Buying into the food boom If Australia supposedly has a future as the food bowl of Asia, why is it no one in Australia wants to invest in food?The mining boom is tapering as resource companies cut back investment, but there is no sign of a food boom taking its place... Read more

US Market Report - The rally on Wall Street continues, with stocks ending Friday at fresh record highs.After seesawing for most of the day, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2% to end at a new record high. The S&P 500 also hit a new record high, adding 0.4%. The Nasdaq gained 0.8%.... Read more

North / South America Market Report - North and South American markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The S&P 500 gained 0.43% and the IPC rose 0.14%. The Bovespa lost 0.61%... Read more

European Market Report - European markets finished higher today with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 is up 0.64% while London's FTSE 100 is up 0.49% and Germany's DAX is up 0.19%... Read more

Asian Market Report - Asian markets finished broadly higher today with shares in Japan leading the region. The Nikkei 225 is up 2.93% while China's Shanghai Composite is up 0.62% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng is up 0.47%... Read more

Commodities - Oil - Brent and U.S. crude oil ended slightly down on Friday, after trading sharply lower for much of the session, rebounding as the U.S. dollar weakened and on late news reports that more oil would flow through BP Plc's Whiting, Indiana, refinery... Read more

Commodities - Gold - Gold fell nearly 1.5 percent on Friday as a sharp rise in the dollar against the Japanese yen triggered technical selling, sending the metal to a two-week low... Read more

The United States posted its biggest monthly budget surplus in five years in April, the Treasury Department said on Friday, adding that revenues are running at a record high so far this year thanks to higher taxes and an improving economy.The April surplus was $113 billion, about $6 billion higher than economists' expectations and the highest surplus since April 2008, according to the Treasury. The surplus in April 2012 was $59 billion... Read more

The United States will not run out of room to borrow until at least early September, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Friday, citing accounting maneuvers that can be employed once a suspension of the nation's debt limit expires next week... Read more

Fed's Bernanke warns shadow banking risks persist... Read more

The financially troubled Postal Service on Friday posted a net loss of $1.9 billion in the second quarter, which ended March 31, compared with a $1.3 billion loss last quarter, when holiday shopping and heavy spending on political advertising during the 2012 election helped the agency... Read more

JPMorgan board unanimously backs Dimon as chairman, CEO... Read more

Peregrine Financial Group's bankruptcy estate may have "viable" claims against JPMorgan Chase & Co and U.S. Bancorp for harm done to clients of the now-failed brokerage, and may pursue them in court, Peregrine's trustee said in a filing this week... Read more

Wall Street banks collected $215.6 million that Denver’s public schools paid to unwind swaps and sell bonds since the district began borrowing to cut pension costs in 2008. That sum is about two-thirds of annual teaching expenses... Read more

Facebook is in advanced talks to acquire Israeli mobile satellite navigation start-up Waze for $800 million to $1 billion, business daily Calcalist reported on Thursday.The deal, which would be Facebook's largest acquisition, would give the social networking company a mapping service and allow it to better compete with Google and Apple... Read more

Marijuana taxes as a cash cow? Think again. Taxing pot could raise hundreds of millions of dollars but still not be the moneymaker states were hoping for.Colorado and Washington State are launching their legal recreational marijuana industries, and both are coming to terms with scaled back expectations. (+video)... Read more

Priceline profit tops analysts’ estimates... Read more

Daily deals firm Groupon has reported first-quarter results ahead of market expectations.Revenues in the first three months of the year came in at $601.4m (£387m), up 7.5% on a year ago. Analysts had forecast revenues of $590m.Groupon's net loss narrowed to $3.24m from $3.59m a year earlier. Shares in the company surged 12% to $6.26 in extended trading in New York.... Read more

Activist investor Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management Inc, two of Dell Inc's biggest shareholders, have proposed an alternative to a $24.4 billion buyout led by founder Michael Dell that will take private the world's No. 3 PC maker. Michael Dell, major shareholders such as Southeastern and billionaire Icahn are waging a battle over the future of the world's third largest personal computer maker, once a tech-industry high flyer, but now struggling to evolve as people embrace smartphones and tablet computers... Read more

Tesla Motors Inc., the maker of electric cars run by billionaire Elon Musk, rose 11 percent after an analyst said that investors who’d expected the stock to decline had to buy it.Tesla gained $7.36 to a record $76.76 at the close in New York. Its market capitalization totaled about $8.9 billion, ranking it between the $7.9 billion value of Turin, Italy-based Fiat SpA (F), the majority owner of Chrysler Group LLC, and Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp. (7261), at $10.5 billion... Read more

Proxy firms divided on Clearwire-Sprint deal... Read more

Creditors of bankrupt Residential Capital LLC are nearing a deal to settle billions of dollars of claims against the mortgage lender's parent, Ally Financial Inc, a development that prompted a delay in a much-anticipated report on ResCap's failure.A mediator overseeing talks between Ally and ResCap creditors asked that an independent examiner postpone his report on claims that Ally should be held responsible for up to $25 billion of ResCap liabilities, according to a court filing... Read more

Warburg Pincus LLC has secured $11.2 billion for its latest fund, one of the largest private equity funds raised since the global financial crisis, underscoring investor demand for high-return offerings at a time of record-low interest rates.Private equity firms moderated their fundraising expectations following the crisis, launching funds that in general were smaller than their predecessors. Warburg's previous fund, which had a $12 billion fundraising target, ended up raising $15 billion in 2007.... Read more

TUI Travel, the tour giant behind Thomson and First Choice, claims it has seen “significant growth” in market share in the UK as sun-seeking Britons and holidaymakers from the Nordic countries helped it to narrow losses in the first half... Read more

Construction data suggests UK avoided double-dip. A revision by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has cast doubt on the UK's double-dip recession last year.Revised growth estimates now suggest the construction industry shrank in the first quarter of 2012, but by less than previously thought.Analysts say the revision may be enough to mean the overall economy narrowly avoided falling into recession for a second time... Read more

BT signed up 40,000 pay TV customers in the last three months, bringing the total to 810,000, the telecoms group said as it announced better than expected fourth-quarter and full-year results.Growth at BT Vision outpaced pay TV uptake at rivals Virgin Media and BSkyB in the three months to March, while total group revenues for the quarter dipped 2% to £4.785bn. Analysts had expected a steeper decline of 4.8%.Full-year profits climbed 2% to £6.18bn on revenues down 5% at £18.25bn.... Read more

British Airways parent IAG SA (IAG) posted a wider first-quarter loss as the pound weakened against the dollar and euro and workers at Spanish unit Iberia staged 10 days of strikes over 3,000 job cuts.Europe’s third-largest airline had an operating loss of 278 million euros ($362 million), excluding one-time items, versus 249 million euros a year earlier. Analysts had anticipated a 250 million-euro loss, based on the average of four estimates... Read more

Tax avoidance, secret mining deals and financial transfers are depriving Africa of the benefits of its resources boom, ex-UN chief Kofi Annan has said.Firms that shift profits to lower tax jurisdictions cost Africa $38bn (£25bn) a year, says a report produced by a panel he heads."Africa loses twice as much money through these loopholes as it gets from donors," Mr Annan told the BBC.... Read more

Co-operative Bank rushes to reassure customers after downgrade The Co-operative Bank is trying to reassure its customers that it would not need a multimillion-pound taxpayer bailout after its debt was downgraded to junk status and its chief executive suddenly quit... Read more

G7 finance ministers meet amid Japan currency questions... Read more

Yen breaches 100 threshold mark against US dollar... Read more

Japanese carmaker Nissan has reported a small rise in full-year profits, but sales in its key market of China fell.Net income amounted to 342.45bn yen ($3.4bn; £2.2bn), up 0.3% from the previous year. Global revenue grew 2.3% to 9.6 trillion yen.Sales in China fell 5.3% to 1.18 million units, with Nissan's market share down 6.5% from the previous year.... Read more

China wrestles with stubborn air polluters... Read more

Anglo American Platinum said on Friday it would cut 6,000 South African mining jobs, fewer than half the 14,000 initially proposed, as it tries to restore profits without provoking a backlash from the government and restive unions.The world's top platinum producer, a unit of Anglo American, added it would also keep open one of four shafts slated for closure near the platinum belt city of Rustenburg... Read more

Opinion - Mark Gimeon: What Happened to the Wealth Debate?... Read more

Analysis - Karen Freifeld: New York may have to drop claims against BofA over Merrill... Read more

Analysis - Vidya Ranganathan: Policy patience seen wearing thin as yen drops... Read more