Dene Mackenzie

The New Zealand dollar, the housing market and high borrowing in the agricultural sector are all providing major concerns for the Reserve Bank.

World sharemarkets continue to rise as investor confidence improves and companies trading globally continue to profit, Craigs Investment Partners broker Chris Timms says.

Forsyth Barr is staying with its buy recommendations for shares in both Contact Energy and TrustPower, despite about $413 million being wiped off the combined value of the two electricity companies.

The Warehouse yesterday sent a signal to the market that it was serious about about its new strategy by implementing a ''career retailer wage'' of between $18.50 and $20 an hour for qualifying staff.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has reduced its official cash rate to 2.75%, a quarter of a percentage point above the New Zealand rate of 2.5%.

Demand is still expected to be keen for Mighty River Power shares but the pricing of the shares today will give the best indication yet of any damage inflicted on the partial float of the company by Labour and the Greens.

Wage growth in the three months ended March was disappointingly low but it was still ahead of inflation, BNZ economist Doug Steel said yesterday.

The introduction of a ''career retailer wage'' on August 1 was welcomed yesterday by long-serving staff members at The Warehouse in South Dunedin.

Higher tax paid by New Zealanders, probably the result of solid investment income driven by recent strength in sharemarkets, has again helped boost the Government's accounts 10 days out from Budget 2013.

Higher income earners in New Zealand seem to be getting pay rises, figures released yesterday by The Treasury seem to indicate.