The New Zealand stock exchange mirrored bourses around the world as most closed well down following a stream of negative news during the past two days - and a record oil price above $US140 ($NZ184).
Mediation between Port Otago and the Maritime Union of New Zealand - at an impasse over pay talks - has failed and industrial action will begin at midnight next Wednesday.
The current account deficit for the quarter to March is expected to narrow slightly and decline from 7.9% of gross domestic product to 7.7%, largely on the back of oil exports and higher dairy prices.
The United Kingdom-based BG Group has delivered a hostile $NZ17.5 billion takeover bid for Australian company Origin Energy, which owns a 51.4% stake in major New Zealand electricity generator Contact Energy.
Listed Dunedin biotech company Botry Zen is well on the way to raising a further $1.8 million from a private placement of convertible notes and stapled options, subject to shareholder approval in August.
Established Dunedin clothing companies Adventure Outfitters and Streets Clothing - with more than 50 years' experience between them - have merged operations and consolidated their businesses under one roof, with a factory shop open to the public to be part of the operation.
Talk of recession is expected following the delivery of the gross domestic product (GDP) data for the quarter to March on Friday, with the ANZ predicting a more than 5% contraction within the economy.
Estimated oil flows from the offshore Tui field in Taranaki have been upgraded for a second time and are almost double the estimate a year ago at 50.1 million barrels.
Oil giant ExxonMobil has rejected industry speculation it was considering bringing forward its timetable for oil and gas exploration in the frontier Great South Basin (GSB) in the Southern Ocean.
Port Otago watersiders have given a fortnight's notice of strike action following an impasse over pay talks - in what would be their first major strike action at Port Chalmers for about 21 years.
The woes of Australian investment company Babcock and Brown will not affect its $43 million stake in the Jacks Point and Henley Downs subdivision near Queenstown.
Junior explorer Glass Earth Gold has begun its first test drilling programme in Otago - part of a $3 million one-year commitment to the region - following completion of an earlier $4 million aerial survey.
As global oil prices ease away from a record almost $US140 ($NZ186) per barrel struck on Monday, Taranaki offshore producer New Zealand Oil and Gas is in good position to widen exploration activity, research by brokers ABN Amro Craigs reveals.
Sales of listed Dunedin biotech company Botry Zen have increased more than 450% to $342,000 and it has clawed back its losses from $1.6 million last year to a $1.22 million loss this year, but at the cost of an expanding overdraft facility.
Farm prices have leapt to a second consecutive month of record prices "seemingly oblivious" to the weakening economy and "the sorry state of the residential market", Real Estate Institute of New Zealand rural spokesman Peter McDonald said yesterday.
Manufacturing volumes were up just 0.2% for the first quarter of the year - compared to 3.4% for the previous quarter - with the latest result underpinned 13% by the dairy and meat sector contribution.
Private Dunedin company Skeggs Group has paid $17.3 million for the Milford Sound assets of listed Tourism Holdings Ltd (THL), including its high-profile Red Boats passenger service.
The recently signed Free Trade Agreement with China offers vast opportunities for New Zealand businesses, but those opportunities need to be navigated within an extremely complex business environment.
The Otago Regional Council has rejected a suggestion Port Otago sell its 15.5% stake in rival Lyttelton Port Company, worth about $35 million, in preferance to borrowing $37.5 million to fund Dunedin's proposed stadium.
Fisher and Paykel Appliances' planned 40-person global call centre is due to begin operating in April next year.
