Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.
TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
There were no rate changes today. But BNZ will end its 5.29% three year Classic 'special' rate later today. It will revert to 5.59%.
TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
There were no rate changes for term deposits either.
'1,600 JOBS AVAILABLE'
A Brisbane jobs fair is trying to attract qualified workers to New Zealand this weekend that 30 employers can't find here. It follow events in Perth and Sydney last November that attracted almost 3,000 job seekers, with the fourth in the series to be held in Melbourne next month.
IS IT JUST US?
Solid Energy looks stuffed to me. It's in the coal industry and the assumption is no-one will invest in it because world-wide prospects are so poor. But don't tell the lenders in Australia. Then again ...
NZGB YIELDS RISE
The latest Government bond tender of NZ$300 mln 2027's received bids for NZ$631 mln and produced an average weighted yield 13 bps higher than February auction (3.48% vs 3.35% previously).
SPECULATION DIMS?
The volume of trading in the NZ dollar on currency markets rose marginally in February but it is still running quite a lot lower than for most of 2014. We seem to be out of favour a bit from a forwards and swaps viewpoint. However the level of spot transactions continues to rise continuing an up trend that began in early 2011.
FACTORIES HUMMING
The manufacturing sector expanded faster in February, according to the latest BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). The seasonally adjusted PMI for February was 55.9, +5.2 points higher than the previous month, and similar to the level of expansion seen in November last year. No evidence the higher exchange rate is hurting our manufacturing sector in this data.
WHOLESALE RATES FIRM
Today, local wholesale interest rates rose +1 bp across the curve. It has been a sleepy day on interest rate markets. The 90 day bank bill rate was unchanged at 3.64%.
NZ DOLLAR RISES
Check our real-time charts here. It is at 73.9 USc, at 96 AUc, and the TWI is at 79.2.
You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.
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