29 articles
Australian-based users viewing New Zealand property listings jumped 190% year-on-year in August, realestate.co.nz said, after Canberra tightened capital gains and negative gearing rules on new residential investments.
The Financial Markets Authority says the mean KiwiSaver balance crossed $40,000 for the first time in the year to 31 March 2026, reaching $40,340 as funds under management climbed to $138.8 billion.
The average KiwiSaver balance crossed $40,000 for the first time in the year to 31 March 2026, the FMA reported, as funds under management reached $138.8 billion and members paid $978.2 million in fees.
Westpac’s chief economist says prolonged Middle East shipping risk could force firms to pass higher oil costs into New Zealand petrol, with Brent back above US$100 and Goldman flagging a conditional path to US$120.
Major-bank specials still price six-month fixes near 4.75% and one-years just under 5%, while two-to-five-year money sits only 0.4–0.7 percentage points higher. That flat curve makes multi-year certainty unusually cheap after the OCR lift to 2.75%.
New Zealand’s 10-year government bond yield sat at 4.78% in early September 2026, matching the US Treasury 10-year while the OCR was only 2.75% after the Reserve Bank’s 25 basis point hike. Global term premium, AI-sector debt supply and Middle East fuel inflation have already lifted wholesale, swap and fixed mortgage pricing ahead of Wellington’s calm central track toward about 3.2%.
ANZ and Westpac have lifted floating home-loan rates by a full 25 basis points after the Reserve Bank’s move to 2.75%, adding roughly $48–$58 a fortnight in interest on a typical $500,000–$600,000 mortgage while many deposit accounts rose by far less.
S&P Global Ratings has affirmed New Zealand’s AA+ foreign-currency rating with a stable outlook, projecting 2.5% growth to June 2027 even as it sees the general government deficit widen to 5.1% of GDP before easing.
The Government has rescinded October 2025 decisions that would have forced KiwiSaver and other managed funds to report private and unlisted holdings in granular categories on the Disclose Register from March 2027.
An independent expert panel has granted Fast-track approvals for Genesis Energy’s 220 MWp Foxton Solar Farm, the 32nd project and eighth renewable cleared under the permanent regime.
The High Court has banned convicted insider trader Peter Huljich from managing financial markets participants for seven years, closing the FMA’s Pushpay proceedings after he did not oppose the order.
NZ First leader Winston Peters, an architect of the 1990s electricity reforms, now wants the large gentailers split into pure generators and retailers as regulators push hedge non-discrimination rules from 1 July 2026 and electricity still drives household CPI.
Spark’s full-year result on 20 August anchors an NZX reporting season that will test whether near-record equities reflect real resilience—or mask a household squeeze from 5.6% unemployment, 4.1% CPI and a renewed OCR hike to 2.50%.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Cameron Brewer have appointed James Miller as chair of the Financial Markets Authority for a five-year term starting 6 August 2026.
The High Court in Christchurch ordered the liquidation of six companies linked to Rangiora-based Chance Voight Investment Corporation Limited on 24 July 2026 after finding the group insolvent and reliant on new investor funds to meet existing obligations.
The Financial Markets Authority will enforce new prohibitions on price manipulation and false or misleading conduct in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme secondary market for New Zealand Units under the Climate Change Response Amendment Bill introduced to Parliament on 15 July 2026.
The Westpac-McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index plunged 14.3 points to 80.4 in the June 2026 quarter.
A memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran has cut Brent crude prices from near US$93 a barrel to US$83-87, creating scope for New Zealand 91 petrol to fall toward $2.80 a litre if tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz resumes and insurance markets normalise. The relief remains conditional on sustained de-escalation and carries direct implications for the Reserve…
Mainfreight Limited achieved revenue of NZ$5.38 billion for the year ended 31 March 2026, up 2.8 percent, even as net profit fell 8.5 percent to NZ$251 million. Elevated fuel costs drove the margin compression and now feed directly into Reserve Bank of New Zealand inflation forecasts.
Kiwibank raised its nine-month term deposit rate by 15 basis points to 3.55 percent and its one-year rate by five basis points to 3.9 percent on 28 May 2026, becoming the first major bank to adjust offerings after the Reserve Bank held the official cash rate steady at 2.25 percent.
New Zealand consumers using generative AI tools for budgeting, investment picks and financial queries risk generic or inaccurate recommendations not tailored to local conditions.
Nvidia's record $81.6 billion first-quarter revenue has laid bare the substantial, often unappreciated exposure KiwiSaver investors carry to the AI chip leader through passive index trackers.
EROAD Limited swung to a $161.1 million net loss for the year ended 31 March 2026 after booking a $134.7 million non-cash impairment on its North American operations. The result marks a sharp reversal from the $1.4 million profit recorded in FY25 and underscores the risks of scaling a telematics platform into volatile international freight markets.
New Zealand retail sales volumes increased 0.9 percent in the March 2026 quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis. The gain matched the December 2025 quarter and exceeded market expectations of 0.5 percent.
A NZ$2.08 million share purchase agreement between New Zealand businessman George Kerr and Vadim Perelman collapsed into five years of litigation after the parties disagreed on settlement mechanics. The English Commercial Court has now ordered specific performance of the deal.
The NZX 50 has returned just 3.98% over five years while inflation topped 20%, representing a significant real-terms loss for New Zealand investors that contradicts government claims of economic recovery.
Gentrack Group Limited reported recurring revenue of $85.3 million for the six months ended 31 March 2026, up 12 percent, even as statutory net profit fell 29 percent to $5.1 million due to two delayed utilities deals.
New Zealand's four largest retail banks have joined Visa's Agentic Ready programme and can now handle AI-driven agent-initiated payments using existing tokenisation and risk controls.
Air New Zealand's NZ$4 billion in available aircraft equity and NZ$1.3 billion liquidity buffer position the carrier to absorb a projected NZ$340-390 million pre-tax loss for the year ending June 2026 without seeking a capital raise or government support, Forsyth Barr analysts concluded after the 14 May trading update.
