Here's my summary of the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am, including news the NZ dollar stabilised overnight at one year lows.
But first, American consumer spending accelerated in August, a positive sign for an economy that appears to be firing on nearly all cylinders. The housing sector remains an exception, however, with a separate report showing Americans signed fewer contracts in August to purchase previously owned homes.
These fell more than expected in August - down 1% - pointing to a still shaky housing sector despite last week's surge in new home sales.
All major regions experienced declines except for the West, which rose for the fourth consecutive month.
In corporate news, Bill Gross quit as the head of Pimco on Friday. The giant bond fund suffered roughly US$10 billion of withdrawals following his departure, a sign of how quickly his surprise move is reshaping the bond-investing landscape.
In Hong Kong, pro-democracy rallies are growing as supporters joined protesters in three locations in the city, while riot police pulled back after failing to disperse crowds overnight with tear gas and pepper spray. Both police tactics and the impact on their economy are under the spotlight.
US Treasury yields fell when Wall Street opened for the week and the 10yr is now at 2.49%.
The oil price is higher today at just under US$95/barrel although the Brent benchmark is little changed at US$97/barrel. The convergence is closer as the American start exporting their surge of oil production. Gold is a little higher, now at US$1,217/oz.
The big news of course is what is happening to the NZ Dollar. We start today with our currency little changed from where we left it when we went home last night. It is now just on 77.7 USc, but still over 89 AUc, and the TWI is down to 75.8. At these levels it is at 12 month low, and an 11% drop against the USD since the end of June, a 7% drop for the TWI.
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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13 Comments
Andrewj, do we know the smears contained within this article are fact or just a continuation of the US State Department's character assassination spin aimed at Putin while he defies it's not so well executed aggression near Russian borders?
One could easily investigate the US Federal Reserve's assisted takeover ($29 billion) of Bear Stearns by J P Morgan for $1 billion and uncover much that would be considered odious to the citizens.
DC, The Daily Mail and BBC are reporting a great battle raging on the western edge of Baghdad; in one days fighting the Iraqi "army" lost 1000 dead. If the ISIS goons get into the suburbs in numbers= it is all over for Iraq. NZ media is ignoring this profound development.
EP
It would be great if you include URLs please, thanks.
Anyway,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2773268/ISIS-militants-fighting…
http://www.inquisitr.com/1507460/isis-is-one-mile-from-baghdad/
http://finance.yahoo.com/video/isis-advance-baghdad-slows-fighting-1746…
... a week has passed , since the general election , and nary a word from Winston Peters ...
Who had such high hopes of being " the Kingmaker " .... because the polls and media told him so ... and he loves to be the centre of attention .... loves the power and adoration .... loves to be needed , relevant ... not so old ....
... but now he's having a sulk ... quietly sulking to himself .... because he hasn't got John Key by the baubles ...
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