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.

Australia has suspended shipments of live cattle to 11 Indonesian abattoirs after footage of animal cruelty was released.

Labour's Phil Goff says the US doesn't have the negotiating strength to impose its will on NZ and weakening Pharmac is something only big pharmaceutical companies want.

The New Zealand dollar has risen to its highest level against the greenback since it floated in March 1985 on improving risk sentiment and talk of Asian funds' interest in assets such as government bonds.

The latest Chinese bid for the Crafar dairy farms is a key test for new rules on foreign ownership, reports Karyn Scherer

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.

Mainfreight has achieved record earnings in the 2011 financial year as a recovery in global freight supports its grab for market share.

Labour is continuing to insist that putting agriculture into the Emissions Trading Scheme in 2013 won't raise the price of dairy products, and says Prime Minister John Key is being misleading by saying it will.

Stocks fell in Europe and the US and the euro weakened amid concern Europe's debt-crisis is worsening and America's economic recovery is running out of puff.