Wall Street banks get their wishlist; US jobless claims fall; China moves to replace the US in TPP; China bank loans jump; UST 10yr yield at 2.10%; oil lower, gold lower; NZ$1 = 72.1 US¢, TWI-5 = 76.5

Here's my summary of the key events overnight that affect New Zealand, with news China is moving quickly now that the US has withdrawn from the Trans Pacific Partnership.

But first, in the US, Trump advisers are considering appointing JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon as Treasury Secretary. Wall Street's influence on US fiscal policy seems set to be enhanced. The official response to the GFC excesses are to be 'dismantled' with a repeal of the Dodd-Frank laws. And Russia has admitted to was in contact with the Trump election team during the campaign.

The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits fell more than expected last week, underscoring the strength of their labour markets.

China is moving quickly to fill the void left by a likely Trump refusal to ratify the TPP. The void has offered Beijing an opportunity to argue for faster adoption of a broader Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific. Given New Zealand has ratified the TPP, we will be in a prime position to take advantage of this revised opportunity. The only likely changes will be the weakening of the investment and labour protections built into the US-based Agreement. You can see the detail of the already negotiated TPP in our 21-part analysis series here. It is not hard to see how it could transition to a China-led one. In fact, China wanted to join the TPP but were rebuffed around the labour and investment protection issues.

China reported that lending by banks rose +15.7% in the year to September, reaching US$32.8 tln. For an economy that is supposed to be growing at even the official +6.7% annual rate, clearly this pace can't continue. Perhaps a sign of stress is that this same data release shows profit growth at just +2.8%. Leverage is getting extreme.

Wall Street equity indexes are pushing higher, as markets get to understand the likely large level of debt spending and fiscal stimulus to come from the new Administration. It will be fun to watch the explanatory gymnastics from the Republican Congress as the US Federal deficit swells and borrowing levels require new debt ceiling authorisations.

And the price of money is now rising quickly as investors want to be compensated for the new risks.

In New York, the UST 10yr yield will start today much higher again, now at 2.10%, and nearing a new one year high. Our wholesale rates rose sharply yesterday as well, but will get pushed higher again today with this latest US benchmark spurt.

The US benchmark oil price is lower, and is now just under US$45 a barrel, while the Brent benchmark is under US$46 a barrel.

The gold price is lower too, now under US$1,265/oz. All the run-up in the past 2 weeks has now been lost.

The New Zealand dollar will start today lower than this time yesterday, at 72.1 US¢. On the cross rates it is now at 94.8 AU¢, and against the euro at 66.3 euro cents. The NZ TWI-5 index is at 76.5.

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 ».