Here's my summary of the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am, including news some ugly dairy price falls.
But first, the overnight international economic news was pretty good.
The US Federal Government posted its smallest March budget deficit in 14 years as an improving labour market saw tax receipts rise and federal government spending declined from a year earlier. At the same time, the latest American jobless claims put them at a seven year low.
The Australian unemployment rate has fallen to a surprise 5.8% from a decade-high 6.1% last month, with 18,100 jobs added to the economy in a sign that their sluggish labour market could be recovering.
The sale by the Greek Government of long term debt was eight times over subscribed. It was their first issue in five years. They were expecting to pay between 5% and 5.25%, but with the heavy demand the average yield was 4.95%.
Despite all this, markets are in retreat today. Stocks are down sharply in New York as investors bail out of tech stocks, bond yields are falling with the benchmark UST 10yr at 2.64%, oil is lower and gold is up now at US$1,320/oz.
And closer to home, the news is even tougher. The latest USDA dairy price monitoring reported overnight sees further large declines in dairy prices with Wholemilk Powder down 7.7% over the past two weeks and butter down a whopping 12.5% in those same two weeks.
We start today with the NZ dollar at just under 87 USc, 92.3 AUc and the TWI is still at 80.5.
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 »
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8 Comments
Will the milk prices in the supermarket come down with the declines in dairy prices? Will the price of fuel at the pump come down with lower oil prices and rising NZD?
Some contacts feel the market will continue to experience downward pressure and decreased export activity for a number of weeks to come. MD_DA127 DA MD DA127 Whole Milk Powder - Oceania MADISON, WI. April 10, 2014 (REPORT 15) OCEANIA INFORMATION GATHERED 03/31/2014 - 04/11/2014 U.S. DOLLARS PER METRIC TON, FOB PORT WHOLE MILK POWDER (WMP): Whole milk powder prices declined significantly as China has adequate supplies and has decreased purchases. Production in the region is almost exclusively in New Zealand, due to cream demand increases in Australia. Some contacts feel the market will continue to experience downward pressure and decreased export activity for a number of weeks to come. Some buyers are holding off purchases, anticipating market prices will move lower. The recent declines in prices and market activity were anticipated by many in the industry after the record breaking export volumes in January and February. At the April 1 GDT event 113, the WMP pricing index, across all contracting periods, averaged $4,033 per MT, down 8.4% compared to the prior event. For contract periods 1 and 2, May and June 2014, NZ regular WMP averaged $3,925 and $3,930 per MT. 26% BUTTERFAT: 3,925 - 4,800
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