New Zealand commodity prices edged up to a new record in May, led by kiwifruit at the start of a new season. Prices in New Zealand dollars fell from a record level as the kiwi dollar climbed.

Hundreds of jobs are at risk with the announcement Canterbury bus maker Designline International has been placed in liquidation.

China's enormous sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corporation, may have set aside up to 1.5 per cent or about $6 billion of its massive foreign exchange reserves to invest in New Zealand assets.

Rakon powered back into profit as it lifted full year revenue 31 per cent to $189.3m.

A local inventor who devised a solar powered lighted cap has started marketing to Japanese consumers, hit by power blackouts after last month's earthquake and tsunami.

New Zealand is a victim of its own success - and right now shoppers are paying the price, commentators say.