A review of things you need to know before you go home on Thursday; strong retail in Q1, higher Govt bond yields, quieter fx markets, PMI slowdown, better data sought, swaps higher, NZD up

Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.

TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
There are no rate changes to report today.

TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
No changes here either.

RETAIL RIPPER
The volume of core retail purchases by households surged 2.9% over the March quarter (seasonally adjusted) growing at its strongest pace since December 2003. The lift in sales was widespread across sectors, with strong increases occurring in sales of electronics and accommodation. And the growth comes despite petrol prices being -8.8% lower in that quarter. Low petrol prices made us feel wealthier, so we splurged.

A BIGGER FRONT LINE
Fast growing tourist and immigrant arrival numbers that are expected to continue rising over the next few years is seeing the Government allocate an extra $33 mln to staff up to handle the surge.

HIGHER YIELDS
The latest Government bond tender of NZ$300 mln 2027's received bids for NZ$660 mln; weighted average yield accepted jumped 40 bps to 3.75%.

QUIETER MARKETS
Foreign currency turnover was down sharply in April, mainly due to falls in currency swap transactions. In March, this market did NZ$12 bln per day but in April it was down to $9.4 bln per day.

SLOWER, OR JUST A BUMP?
BusinessNZ reports that the manufacturing sector has slowed down a touch in April, judging by the latest Performance of Manufacturing Index. The PMI eased to 51.8 in the month, from 54.6 in March. Whether this is the start of a markedly slower growth trend remains to be seen. Recall that we saw a similar slowdown in January (perhaps on changing holiday influences).

DATA NEEDED
The RBNZ agrees on the need for better data on foreign buyers in its testimony to the Finance Select Committee in Parliament.

WHOLESALE RATES RISE AGAIN
Wholesale swap rates were up +3 bps across the curve again today. That sees the five year swap rate at a nine week high and the ten year at its highest since the end of 2014. The 90 day bank bill rate however is unchanged at 3.54%.

NZ DOLLAR JUMPS
The New Zealand dollar has strengthened today on the back of the good retail numbers in New Zealand and a weaker USD. As of late this afternoon it is at 75.3 USc, 92.7 AUc, 66.3 euro cents, and the TWI-5 is now up at 78. Check our real-time charts here.

You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.