A review of things you need to know before you go home on Thursday; another Yuan devaluation, plenty of house sales, factories happy, Govt borrows cheaper, Fonterra on negative watch, swap rates rise, NZD stable

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

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

TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
Nothing for term deposits either

DEVALUATION
Another day, another devaluation for the China yuan vs the US dollar. Today, the fall was another -1.1% at 1:15pm today. Over the last three days that is now -4.7% lower. But against the Kiwi dollar the yuan has depreciated -4.2% and most of that was today as our currency showed some 'strength'.

BIG VOLUMES, SPREADING PRESSURE
The REINZ's median price in central Auckland dropped by $84,500 in July. In Auckland, 3,160 homes were sold in July which was up +12% compared to June and a massive +41% compared to July last year. Nationally, there were 8,121 dwellings sold in New Zealand in July, the highest sales volume in a July month nationwide since 2005 when 8,213 houses were sold. And it was the highest July sales volumes in Auckland since 2003 when 3,583 houses were sold. The nationwide data hints at broader demand pressures that may persist into 2016.

POSITIVE FRAME OF MIND
New Zealand's factories are in good heart, expanding broadly although at a slightly slower rate. No reason to be concerned in the manufacturing sector yet, according to the BusinessNZ PMI report for July.

TINY FOOD PRICE INFLATION
In the year to July 2015, food prices increased +1.2%. This follows a decrease of -0.1% in the year to June and -0.8% in the year to May. Seasonal vegetable prices seemed to have caused the jump.

GOVT BORROWS CHEAPER
Latest Government bond tender of NZ$200 mln 2027's received bids for NZ$365 mln. The coverage ratio was lower than last five tenders for this maturity and only 24% of bids were successful. The yield was 3.27% compared with 3.38% in the last auction.

USING LESS
The latest Energy in New Zealand report shows the proportion of renewable energy making up our domestic supply is at a record high at 40%. The fast growth of geothermal power is behind the jump. Coal consumption is declining. Petrol consumption is stable. Electricity use is falling slowly.

DOWNGRADE COMING ?
S&P has put Fonterra on credit watch, in prep for a review that may involve a downgrade. They currently have an 'A' long-term rating.

WHOLESALE RATES HIGHER & STEEPER
Swap rates rose across the curve in a steeper bias. For two year wholesale rates are up +3 bps, five years up +4 bps and ten years are also up +4 bps. That puts back some of yesterday's fall. The 90 day bank bill rate is unchanged at 2.96%.

NZ DOLLAR HOLDS
The NZ dollar is now back up to 66.3 USc, pretty much unchanged against the Aussie at 89.7 AUc, and down to 59.5 euro cents. The TWI is at 70.6. Check our real-time charts here.

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