Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.
TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
Co-operative Bank raised its 18 month fixed mortgage rate by 4 basis points to 4.29%.
TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
Asset Finance cut its 4 year term deposit rate by 10 basis points to 5.80% and its 5 year term deposit rate by 20 basis points to 6.10%.
CHRISTCHURCH DEVELOPERS JOIN FORCES AND HEAD NORTH
Two Christchurch businesses are joining forces to grab a bigger slice of the residential property market in the upper North Island. Christchurch-based Mike Greer Homes has sold an 18% stake in the company to Tailorspace, the property investment and development company owned by Canterbury businessman Ben Gough. The move is expected to assist the company increase its residential property development activities in Auckland and surrounding regions.
AUCKLAND'S HILTON GETS MAKEOVER - TARGETS CHINESE VISITORS
The Hilton Hotel on Princes Wharf in Auckland has just completed a multi million dollar makeover of its guest rooms, restaurants and conference facilities and has introduced what it is calling a Huanying programme (derived from the Chinese word for welcome) designed to make Chinese travellers feel more at home. The programme includes a 24 hour mandarin translation service and mandarin language TV channels in guest rooms. Chinese Free Independent Travellers (FITs) are the biggest growth category for the hotel.
TRADING ON NZX UP 18%
NZX said it handled 161,640 equity transactions in June, up 18.2% compared with June last year They had a total value of $4.2 billion, up 35.8%. Debt transactions were also well up, with 3268 trades in June, up 18.9% compared to June last year. In the first six months of this year the total number of trades handled by NZX was up 35.8% compared to the first half of last year while their total value was up 27.1%
DAIRY PRICES DOWN AGAIN
Prices were lower at the latest Global Dairy Trade auction, with whole milk powder dropping 1.6% to US$2062 per tonne.
SKY SHAREHOLDERS GIVE VODAFONE MERGER THE TICK
Sky Network Television shareholders voted in favour of a proposed merger with Vodafone NZ at a special meeting.
GOVERNMENT BUYS BACK $500 MILLION OF GOVERNMENT STOCK
The Debt Management Office repurchased $500 million of the 15 December 2017 6% coupon government stock that is on issue via tender.
WHOLESALE INTEREST RATES
We have seen some sharp falls at the long end of the swap curve in response to falls in US 10 year treasuries. The 1-5 swap curve started the day with a 5bps spread, this has since dropped to just 1bps difference.
NZ DOLLAR DROPS
The NZ dollar drifted lower today as the markets turned on their risk-off mode overnight. The only currency we were stronger against was the GBP which continued to crumble as some of the post-Brexit fears begin to crystallise. Around lunchtime we saw the NZD weaken against the GBP but it still sits comfortably above 54.8 pence.
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