Trading in NZX dairy futures passed the 10,000-lot mark today for the first time. NZX says this milestone means the market is well on the way towards reaching critical mass.

Air New Zealand, wants to lift annual profit by $110 million by 2015 and is picking a better performance than the latest earnings performance.

Cerebos' $71.6 million bid to buy Comvita undervalues the local honey maker by as much as 38 per cent, according to the independent adviser's report.

Stocks on both sides of the Atlantic fell overnight amid expectations that lawmakers' talks on cutting the US budget deficit are set to fail.