We have the latest business news, markets, currency and personal finance news, opinion and financial market reports:
1. The Panama Papers will be today's headline grabber. Information on other countries has already been released, but today a cache of new material from the leak of documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca is emerging on New Zealand activities. Prime Minister John Key said the information could lead to law changes. Watch this space closely.
2. The court case, Ralec vs NZX continues in Wellington today. This is expected to run for a further seven weeks and is one of the biggest cases of its type in New Zealand.
3. The United States quarterly reporting season is almost complete. As Craig's Mark Lister says: "Almost 90 per cent of companies have reported now and the balance will come over the next week or two. The reporting season has been generally better than expected, largely because expectations were quite low in the first place. At this stage, 54 per cent of companies have beaten revenue estimates and 76 per cent have exceeded earnings forecasts (of 437 S&P500 companies that have reported)."
4. Watch the kiwi dollar which has been down lately against all major currencies except the Australian dollar. Across the Tasman, the dollar is down after rate cuts and low inflation in Australia.