US durable goods orders up, services strong; Yuan out of favour, China bank bumps; gold falls further; NZ$1 = US$0.861 TWI = 80.3

Here's my summary of the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am, including news of another big drop in the gold price today.

But first, American durable goods orders rebounded in February, but a surprise drop in a gauge of planned spending on capital goods pointed to sluggish economic growth this quarter.

Also released overnight, the services PMI for March showed that economic activity accelerated at a faster clip than in February as that major sector picked up its growth momentum.

In international trade, the use of China's currency in global payments has taken a rare but big dip falling by 8.5% in February from January, as Beijing allowed bigger two-way moves in its value. It clearly has a long way to go before it is used widely for trade transactions.

China's banking system is facing a few challenges these days. There are localised bank runs - good news-value but not widespread yet - and the huge national banks have 'declared war' on e-commerce challengers.

And China has lost a dispute at the World Trade Organization over limits on rare earth and metals exports, handing Europe and the United States a victory over what they see as Beijing's unfair trade practices.

In New York, equities are down in late trade, oil is up in the US but down in the Brent benchmark, UST 10 year bond yields are lower at 2.73%, and gold is the big mover today, down sharply and at one stage touching US$1,300 before a small bounce up from there. It's currently at US$1,303/oz.

Locally, the first reporting on the Auckland housing accord will surprise sceptics - things seem to be on track to achieve their ambitious first year targets.

The NZ Dollar is in an extended risk appetite rally and starts today at 86.1 USc, the Aussie is at 93.3 AUc and the TWI is up to 80.3 and close to a new all-time high.

If you want to catch up with all the changes yesterday, we have an update here.

The easiest place to stay up with today's event risk is by following our Economic Calendar here »