Pomp and ceremony joined with a mutual love of rugby in John Key's one-day visit to Paris.

The New Zealand sharemarket returned from the Easter long weekend to a little buoyancy in early trading.

The New Zealand dollar finished the day still fluctuating around the US80c level at which it opened at the end of the Easter break.

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.

After rising during the weekend to within a whisker of US80c, its highest level against the greenback in three years, the NZ dollar retreated today.

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