Manufacturers in Otago and Southland found their spirits lifted a little after the July Performance in Manufacturing Index showed a sharp rise from the despondent June result.
Listed jeweller Michael Hill International would have to focus on reversing the negative sales trend in its core Australian market while retaining a focus on cost control, brokers said yesterday.
China has sparked fears of a global currency war after the People's Bank of China set the reference rate for its currency more than 1% lower against the US dollar yesterday, its third reduction in three days.
The SkyCity Entertainment Group's operations showed solid growth in the year ended June but the operating profit disappointed brokers, despite growing at 6% in the period.
New Zealand's ASB and its Australian parent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia both reported substantial increases in their cash profit yesterday.
Otago average annual salaries rose 4% in the year ended June but the region remains near the bottom of the table as far as average salaries go, data released yesterday indicated.
The July spending data continue to indicate household spending had passed its peak, ASB economist Kim Mundy said yesterday.
Retirement village operator Summerset delivered a strong but well-flagged result for the six months ended June, helped in no small part by an upwards fair value movement in its investment property.
The transtasman currencies fell sharply yesterday after China allowed its yuan to fall to levels last seen in 2012, a move which could provide a competitive boost to exports from the world's second-largest economy.
Continuing momentum in the Australian and New Zealand business, improvements in asset quality and further progress in addressing legacy issues helped National Australia Bank increase its profit in June.
In a quiet week for data, the focus this week will be on how the dollar and interest rates react to some key events.
The Australian and New Zealand reporting season starts in earnest tomorrow with most companies reporting earnings for the full 2015 financial year.
The Government copped the full blast of blame from opposition parties following the release yesterday of a sharply reduced Fonterra payout for the current season.
Fonterra's offer of ''modest relief'' to its suppliers was not as encouraging as it first seemed, Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said yesterday.
The Canterbury rebuild has peaked, according to Westpac economists. About 14,000 construction jobs could be lost in Canterbury over the next few years. A plan is now needed to manage the impact of the downturn on Canterbury's construction employment and the wider regional economy. Business editor Dene Mackenzie reports.
Otago dairy farmers are selling what they can to generate cash flow as they face up to an immediate prospect of lower milk payout prices for the next 18 months to two years.
Recent land acquisitions have lifted retirement village operator Summerset Group's development pipeline to more than eight years at its current 300-units-per-year build rate, Forsyth Barr broker Suzanne Kinnaird says.
Unemployment levels in Canterbury, Otago and Southland rose in the three months ended June, although Canterbury still has the lowest unemployment in the country at 3.3%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday kept its official cash rate unchanged at 2% as focus shifts today to the Bank of England.
Doubts are emerging about how efficient cutting the threshold for paying GST on foreign products will be if the current clumsy collection process through Customs is relied upon.
