New Zealand house sales fell in June from a year earlier, led by properties of $400,000 or less, indicating the Reserve Bank’s restrictions on low-equity loans are curbing demand at the cheaper end of the market. Sales fell 6.1 percent in June from the same month of 2013 to 5,763 and were down 12.3 percent from May, according to the Real Estate Institute. …

The New Zealand dollar held above 88 US cents and may test its post-float high this week as traders prepare for testimony from US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and local data that’s expected to confirm inflation is accelerating. The kiwi traded at 88.03 USA cents at 8am in Wellington, little changed from the New York and Wellington closes on Friday last week. The …

US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s testimony to Congress will offer a key focus in the coming days, while investors will also try to gauge whether earnings support the improved outlook for the world’s biggest economy. On Tuesday, Yellen is scheduled to deliver her semi-annual policy testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, and the next day to the House Financial …

New Zealand shares declined, tracking US and European equities lower as sentiment waned on concern about the euro-zone’s financial stability after a major Portuguese bank missed debt payments. The NZX 50 Index slid 27.421 points, or 0.535 percent, to 5,100.592. Within the index, 30 stocks fell, nine rose, and 11 were unchanged. Turnover was $81.3 million. In northern hemisphere trading overnight, …

Infratil, the infrastructure investor, has appointed Kiwibank deputy chair Alison Gerry to its board. Her appointment as an independent director fills a casual vacancy and expands the Infratil board to six directors, the company said in a statement. She will retire and seek re-election at Infratil’s Aug. 12 annual meeting. She will also the Infratil board’s audit and risk committee. Gerry has been …

Lyttelton Port of Christchurch has disclosed a $1 billion development plan as rival Port of Tauranga signs one of the country’s biggest logistics groups up to its terminal in Timaru. Lyttelton wants to reclaim land to the east for a new container terminal. The public will have better access to the western side of the port where a new marina, …

Port of Tauranga has done a freight deal with the Fonterra Cooperative Group and Silver Fern Farms-led logistics company Kotahi and container shipping line Maersk that will facilitate the arrival of 6,500 TEU ships to New Zealand by the end of 2016. Kotahi has agreed to commit 2.5 million export containers to Maersk over ten years, giving the shipping company …

Ryman Healthcare, which posted a 43 percent jump in full-year profit in May, plans to build a $100 million retirement village in Pukekohe, the second development of that magnitude it has announced in as many months. The village on a 6.58 hectare site on Valley Road  is expected to open next year, the nation’s largest rest home operator said in a statement. …

The New Zealand dollar advanced after US economic reports raised concerns about the strength of the world’s largest economy, damping demand for the greenback. The kiwi rose to 87.28 US cents at 8am in Wellington, from 86.78 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index touched a high of 81.26 overnight, close to the record 81.29 reached earlier this month, and …

Wall Street advanced as investors opted to focus on signs that the US economy has picked up, increasing their bets on the outlook, even as the final reading on first-quarter GDP showed a worse-than-expected contraction. US gross domestic product shrank at a 2.9 percent annual rate, the biggest drop in five years, following a previously reported 1.0 percent decline, in …