Wellington, Feb 4 NZPA - The New Zealand sharemarket outperformed Asian markets today and did not react to news that the unemployment rate rose to a surprise 7.3 percent. The benchmark NZX-50 index closed up 13.826 points, or 0.441 percent, at 3148.939.

Wellington, Feb 4 NZPA - The New Zealand sharemarket opened today slightly firmer, but prices of the three leading stocks were mixed. The benchmark NZX-50 index was up 8.4 points or 0.27 percent to 3143.5 after 30 minutes trading.

Wellington, Feb 2 NZPA - The Reserve Bank of Australia's unexpected decision to keep its official cash rate at the same level saw the New Zealand dollar also dragged against the US greenback this afternoon.

Wellington, Jan 29 NZPA - The New Zealand sharemarket had a gloomy start to Friday, taking the gloss off any rises it made during the middle of the week.

Wellington, Jan 29 NZPA - Prime Minister John Key has described as "dumb and hypocritical" a suggestion by Labour leader Phil Goff that public service chief executives' salaries should be capped.

Wellington, Jan 28 NZPA - The New Zealand sharemarket's pre-reporting season drift continued unabated today with the benchmark index easing slightly while other markets in Asia rallied.

Wellington, Jan 28 NZPA - The New Zealand dollar had a mixed session today and ended up reacting more to US President Barack Obama's state of the union address than to the latest Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) decision on interest rates.

By Maggie Tait of NZPA Wellington, Jan 28 NZPA - Public service chief executives' salaries should be capped, Labour leader Phil Goff said today in a speech about the need to ensure all New Zealanders benefit from improved economic times, not just the wealthy.

Wellington, Jan 28 NZPA - The New Zealand dollar bounced around in overnight trading ahead of the Reserve Bank's official cash rate review this morning.

Wellington, Jan 26 NZPA - The New Zealand dollar eased today as the yen rose in response to speculation of a tightening of Chinese monetary policy.