New Zealand Market Report: The New Zealand sharemarket declined for the 13th time in 16 trading days, dragged down by heavyweights Fisher and Paykel Healthcare and Ebos Group. The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell at the opening after another weak day on Wall Street and was once again rescued with a rise in the end-of-day broker matching session. The index closed at 11,836.04, down 39.31 points or 0.33%, after reaching an intraday low of 11,730.98.
Read more

---

Tough economy for another 12 months, warns Infometrics economist
Read more

---

NZ vs Australia: Who’s got the economic edge? Jumping the ditch in search of a better life in Australia is a common tactic for many New Zealanders. But how much better is it really? BNZ chief economist Mike Jones crunched the numbers to look at which economy is doing better.
Read more

---

NZ takes another step towards digital cash: What you need to know. The Reserve Bank has moved to the next stage of a plan that could see New Zealanders using an electronic version of cash in the coming years.
Read more

---

Local borrowers are trying to second-guess when the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) will start cutting interest rates by moving to shorter term mortgages, even though it will cost them more, according to a new report. Property research firm CoreLogic's latest housing report shows 56 percent of new housing loans in February were fixed for one year, compared to 36 percent in December.
Read more

---

Business performance sentiment is at a record low as a positive post-election glow gives way to a gloomy economic outlook. The latest biannual BDO Business Wellbeing Index, which included responses from more than 650 business leaders over the past two weeks, shows just 53 percent feel positive about their business performance, compared with the post-election's 61 percent.
Read more

---

Interest rates and mortgage misery - the number of people falling behind on their payments is the highest it's been in over four years while bank profits are sitting at record highs,
Read more

---

Consilium and FNZ, the global wealth management platform, have launched the Consilium Wrap ESG Profiler, to help advisers personalise client portfolios according to their ESG preferences and values.
Read more

---

Investment platform Sharesies is expanding into the rural sector by hosting the online trading of Fonterra co-operative shares among suppliers. Trading in the shares, which are tied to milk production, to date has been through a closed market on the NZX, but from June co-op members will be able to trade on the Sharesies mobile app and browser, and get enhanced features such as alerts on changing prices.
Read more

---

PGG Wrightson downgrades forecast as trading conditions worsen
Read more

---

Union Medical Benefits Society Ltd (UniMed) and Accuro Health Insurance Society Ltd (Accuro) have received approval from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to transfer Accuro’s insurance portfolio to UniMed.
Read more

---

Bringing the world’s biggest music stars to Auckland is doing wonders for the city’s economy, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (TAU) says. Last month’s Pink concerts at Eden Park brought in $4.2 million to the Auckland economy, while the Coldplay concerts in November are anticipated will give an $11m boost to the city.
Read more

---

Spark today announced the departure of Product Director Tessa Tierney, who has decided to pursue a new opportunity with UP Education. Spark CEO Jolie Hodson said, “I would like to thank Tessa for the significant contribution she has made since she joined Spark nine years ago.
Read more

---

The Commerce Commission is seeking feedback on its draft decision to set Chorus’ total expenditure allowance at $1.59 billion over the next four years – 16% or $302.6 million below the company’s proposed expenditure for the next regulatory period (2025-2028).
Read more

---

T&G Global today announces the appointment of Bastian von Streit as a Non-Independent Director, effective 18 April 2024.
Read more

---

Generative AI could dramatically boost New Zealand's overall productivity with workers in line for much bigger salaries to match, a global tech giant says. A report by Access Partnership, Accelerating AI Skills: Preparing the Workforce in New Zealand for Jobs of the Future, commissioned by AWS indicates 90 percent of businesses and their staff expected to be using generative AI tools within five years.
Read more

---

Let’s Get Wellington moving blamed for Cranfields closing after 33 years
Read more

---

Woolworths has lauded itself as an "exemplary employer" and "a model accused" in an Australian court while admitting underpaying more than AU$1 million (NZ$1.1 million) to about 1200 workers. Two days after Woolworths' boss was threatened with jail for holding the Senate in contempt, the company faced Melbourne Magistrates Court where it pleaded guilty to more than 1000 charges.
Read more

---

Analysis - Greg Ninness: Real estate agencies' estimated commission revenue has been around $400m for each of the last four quarters
Read more

Australian Market Report: Mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto boosted the Australian sharemarket, which also benefited from the latest unemployment figures showing a slowdown in the labour market – a key statistic closely watched by the Reserve Bank in making its interest-rate decisions. The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 32.5 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 7638.1 at the close, ending its five-day slump.
Read more

---

Australia’s unemployment rate rises to 3.8% in March as employers shed more than 6,000 jobs. Reserve Bank and Treasury had predicted unemployment rate would rise from February’s 3.7% as interest rates bite
Read more

---

Australia's corporate insolvencies have hit their highest level in at least 25 years
Read more

---

Regional lender Bank of Queensland will shift its focus away from growth to improving returns for shareholders after reporting a 33 per cent slide in half year cash profits and a cut to its dividends. Inflation, stronger competition and higher cost of funding has continued to stifle BOQ’s bottom line, and it declared an interim dividend of 17¢ per share, down from 20¢ last year.
Read more

---

Bank of Queensland (ASX: BOQ) shares jumped over 5% after reporting earnings for the six months ending February 29th. Morningstar Equity Analyst Nathan Zaia continues to see a difficult operating environment for the bank.
Read more

---

‘Double-edged sword’: Pros and cons of cashback services
Read more

---

In what represents a key strategic move, MLC Asset Management has upped the ante in the private equity space by creating a new private equity investment vehicle with the injection of $US762 million. MLC AM said that its MLC Private Equity division would use the new vehicle to provide access to additional private equity investment opportunities for global institutional investors.
Read more

---

UniSuper To Make Significant Investment In Macquarie Renewables Fund (MGECO)
Read more

---

Tietto Minerals has notched up another quarterly production record at its Abujar gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire on Africa’s west coast, delivering 37,111 ounces – an increase of more than four per cent from the previous quarter. The company’s quarterly results released today show its all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of production came in at US$1332 (AU$2068) per ounce, a slight increase from the previous six months of US$1311 (AU$2035).
Read more

---

When Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart and her company Hancock Prospecting move to invest in companyies or projects, folks tend to sit up and take notice. Just consider that shares in Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC) rose nearly 6% yesterday after Rinehart was found to have built a substantial stake in the rare earths producer.
Read more

---

88 Energy enjoys a pivotal quarter
Read more

---

A second drill rig has rolled onto Strickland Metals’ Yandal project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields region to target high-grade gold intercepts from last year’s reconnaissance air-core (AC) drilling program that pulled up 39m averaging 6.1 grams per tonne, including a 7m core running at 22.2g/t of the precious yellow metal.
Read more

---

Lithium rally is “detached from fundamentals” Go short says Citi
Read more

---

Researchers at the University of Queensland (UQ) have built an electrical generator that consumes carbon dioxide, potentially opening the door to a new industrial-scale carbon capture method. The carbon-negative "nano-generator" is the work of Zhuyuan Wang and Xiwang Zhang from UQ's Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation.
Read more

---

The clean energy industry is urging the federal government to “hold its nerve” and deliver an ambitious and coordinated package of budget incentives to win back investors. Responding to criticism of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Made in Australia Act, a group of energy and finance leaders joined forces on Thursday to call for the scale of budget support required for decarbonisation.
Read more

---

While shoppers battle with the cost of food at the check-out, farmers around the world are expected to plant fewer crops this year, largely because the cost of growing some produce is higher than its potential value. Global wheat and corn prices have halved since record peaks in 2022, but the cost of essential inputs such as fertiliser remain historically high, creating a squeeze on farm profit margins and making some crops unviable to grow.
Read more

---

Red imported fire ants posing major threat to Australia
Read more

---

ASX 300 retail stocks often sport large dividend yields. We've seen it before with JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX: JBH) and Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN). With Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH) and Dusk Group Ltd (ASX: DSK) as well. But a fully-franked dividend yield of 7.67% is, objectively, unusually high. And yet one ASX 300 retail stock is apparently offering that today. That retailer would be footwear purveyor Accent Group Ltd
Read more

---

Multinational food manufacturers such as Nestlé and Coca-Cola are being pressed to front up to the Senate inquiry into supermarket prices and answer questions about their role in rising grocery prices. NSW Liberal senator Maria Kovacic said Australians needed a clear indication of the power and influence wielded by these global corporations to better understand their role in influencing the prices of packaged food.
Read more

---

Australia’s biggest plastics and chemical manufacturer has been plunged into voluntary administration putting 700 jobs at risk across two states and creating fears for the country’s recycling abilities. The company called Qenos has been hit with multimillion-dollar losses and increased energy costs over the past couple of years and operates factories in Sydney and Melbourne.
Read more

---

Seven CEO James Warburton departs network
Read more

---

Property developer Steve Nassif has pleaded guilty over his role in a suspicious blaze that destroyed a mansion on Sydney's north shore previously valued at over $24 million. The Northwood home went up in flames in September 2022, with 50 firefighters working for more than an hour to extinguish it.
Read more

---

Five Australians among 37 arrested over global phishing scam following international investigation
Read more

---

Opinion - Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Mystery gold buyer is betting on geopolitical and financial mayhem
Read more

---

Opinion - Elizabeth Knight: Star shows it has dud hand in bid to keep licence
Read more

U.S. Market Report: Wall Street's main stock indexes gained on Thursday as investors cheered upbeat earnings across several sectors, while advancing megacap growth stocks were amongst the biggest boosts.
Read more

---

European Market Report: European stocks closed higher on Thursday on expectations the European Central Bank (ECB) will start cutting interest rates soon. ECB official Mario Centeno said the central bank is committed to tailoring its monetary policy to local conditions rather than taking cues from the Federal Reserve.
Read more

---

Asian Market Report: Asian stocks rose broadly on Thursday, as the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields retreated from recent highs and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., the world's largest producer of advanced processors, clocked a stronger-than-expected first-quarter profit on strong AI chip demand.
Read more

---

Mortgage rates surge past 7%, reaching highest level since November
Read more

---

Netflix is due to report first-quarter earnings after the closing bell Thursday. The company’s performance has been an anomaly in the streaming realm. While competitors struggle to turn profits, Netflix saw a 12% bump in revenue last year as its paid memberships grew again.
Read more

---

Micron set to get $6.1 bln in chip grants from US
Read more

---

Alphabet-owned Google said on Thursday it would consolidate teams that focus on building artificial intelligence models across its Research and DeepMind divisions in its latest push to develop its AI portfolio. Google will relocate its Responsible AI teams - which focuses on safe AI development - from Research to DeepMind so that they are closer to where AI models are built and scaled, the company said in a blog post.
Read more

---

Wall Street is eagerly awaiting Big Tech earnings to show signs the artificial intelligence revolution is well underway, and Microsoft's first-quarter results next week may show that playing out. According to Bank of America, the tech giant's April 25 earnings release should be upbeat, with the bank upping its earnings estimate by 1%, primarily on the back of strength in the Azure and Microsoft 365 segments.
Read more

---

Blackstone reports 1% rise in first-quarter earnings
Read more

---

Shares of Trump Media and Technology Group are experiencing a sharp rebound following a brutal post-IPO decline. The stock has surged as much as 41% over the past two-days, recouping some of the 60% losses it has suffered since late-March, when the parent company of Truth Social completed its SPAC merger with Digital World Acquisition.
Read more

---

Hipgnosis agrees $1.4bn sale to Concord Chorus. Struggling music rights business strikes deal with US rival
Read more

---

Writers for Sesame Street have voted unanimously to authorize a strike if they are unable to reach an agreement on their new contract before Friday, the Writers Guild of America East announced Tuesday.
Read more

---

Tesla discloses it spent $200,000 advertising on X
Read more

---

Alaska Air Group (ALK.N) on Thursday forecast stronger-than-expected earnings in the current quarter on the back of a pickup in business travel demand, sending its shares higher. The airline, the operator of the Boeing (BA.N) plane that suffered a mid-air cabin blowout in January, also reported a smaller loss in the first quarter, despite a $162 million impact from the more-than-two-week grounding of its 737 MAX 9 aircraft.
Read more

---

Taylor Swift fans lose at least $1 million to Eras Tour scams in the UK
Read more

---

The EU wants to agree a deal with the UK that would make it easier for people aged between 18 and 30 to study and work abroad after Brexit. This would be a limited arrangement, not a restoration of free movement of people, the European Commission says.
Read more

---

UK wage growth and services inflation too high for rate cut, BoE's Greene says
Read more

---

Thames Water nationalisation plan could move bulk of £15bn debt to state
Read more

---

L'Oreal reported a 9.4% rise in first quarter sales on a like-for-like basis on Thursday, beating expectations and easing concerns about a slowdown in the two biggest beauty markets the United States and China. The French cosmetics giant, which owns the Maybelline and Lancome brands, reported sales of 11.24 billion euros ($11.98 billion) for the first three months to the end of March.
Read more

---

Squatters move into Marco Pierre White’s Leicester Square restaurant days after Gordon Ramsay pub. New occupation comes after squatters turned Gordon Ramsay’s gastropub into cafe welcoming ‘victims of gentrification’
Read more

---

Europe wants two things from China. It may not get far on either of them. Europe wants two things from China: First, a shift in its relatively pro-Russia position on the war in Ukraine. Second, a reduction in the trade imbalance — Chinese goods exports to the EU exceeded its imports from the 27-nation bloc by 291 billion euros ($310 billion) last year.
Read more

---

The West says China makes too much. Its workers disagree
Read more

---

The International Monetary Fund urged Asian central banks on Thursday to focus on domestic inflation and avoid tying their policy decisions too closely to anticipated moves by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Read more

---

How an Obscure Chinese Real Estate Start-Up Paved the Way to TikTok. Court records, mistakenly made public, tell a story about the birth of ByteDance, its bumpy road to success and the role of the Republican megadonor Jeff Yass’s firm.
Read more

---

Tesla’s job cuts in mainland China involved mainly sales staff and will not affect production at its Shanghai factory, which accounts for more than half of the carmaker’s total output, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Read more

---

Indian shares extended losses for a fourth day running on Thursday due to heightened tensions in the Middle East and concerns about the outlook for U.S interest rates.
Read more