Here's my summary of the key events overnight that affect New Zealand, with news today is all about the RBNZ and its June Monetary Policy Statement. We will have full coverage starting at 9am today, and a live stream of Governor Wheeler's press conference at 11am. Markets are not expecting a rate change. But the real interest will be on how they are assessing the Auckland housing bubble.
But we start the day with the news that the NZ dollar is pushing higher, something no doubt the Governor will not be wanting to hear.
In the US, there is more labour market news. The pace of hiring is slowing while the number of job openings are holding or rising. That suggests employers are struggling to find enough qualified workers. Another report identified some regions where wages grew more than +10% in the past year. And yet another report showed good growth in the American service sector in the first quarter, up +3.6% from the same period a year ago.
We should also note that the Indian monsoon arrived overnight - right on 'normal'. This is a crucial event for one of the world's largest economies and probably means food production and prices will be normal there this year.
Singapore has announced that its public servants will be blocked from using the internet at work from May next year. "Security" reasons are being cited.
In Australia, Moody's says that signs of a re-acceleration in house prices there and increasing household leverage are credit negative for Australian banks. This is because these factors raise downside risks in the housing market, and can lead to potential second-order impacts on broader economic activity.
The World Bank has slashed its global growth forecast to +2.4%, down from +2.9% is used in January amid what it calls stubbornly low commodity prices, faltering growth in advanced economies, weak global trade, and shrinking capital flows. The drop is especially strong in Russia, Latin America and the Middle East.
That stance seems at odds with today's markets which show rising commodity prices and rising equity prices on Wall Street. The Dow is above 18,000 and the S&P500 is above 2100, both key support levels.
However the benchmark UST 10yr yield is not moving much, now in a tight range at 1.70%.
The oil price is a higher again with the US benchmark now just over US$51/barrel and the Brent benchmark just over US$52/barrel. Strong demand is driving the rise.
The gold price is up US$17 to US$1,260/oz.
And finally, the NZ dollar starts today quite a bit stronger at 70.2 US¢, at 94 AU¢, and at 61.6 euro cents. The TWI-5 index is now at 73.2, its highest level of the year.
If you want to catch up with all the local changes yesterday, we have an update here.
The easiest place to stay up with event risk today is by following our Economic Calendar here ».
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.