Cabinet agreed today to give $1m to support the Red Cross effort in Japan, Prime Minister John Key announced this afternoon, and also confirmed four NZers were still in Libya.

The New Zealand and Australian dollars have tumbled against the yen as Japan's currency broke through key resistance levels to reach a record high against the greenback.

Equities on Wall St slid again overnight, as Japan's nuclear crisis showed no signs of abating and analysts tallied up the potential economic costs of the devastation.

Prices in Fonterra's latest online auction have fallen 8.2 per cent.

Mainfreight is hitting up its bankers for as much as $227m to buy Netherlands-based company Wim Bosman.

Gold hit a record high on world markets overnight, but equities fell as investors worried about the impact on consumer spending and corporate profits of high oil prices.

The New Zealand dollar will probably hold around 75 US cents until next Thursday as traders wait for the Reserve Bank to say whether it will cut the OCR.

The price of milk powder rose to the highest level in three years in Fonterra's latest online auction.