A review of things you need to know before you go home Tuesday; interest rates slip, consumer spending strong, inflation all in housing, Brilliant Finance woes, chicken prices jump, swap rates fall, NZD stable

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

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
NZ Home Loans cut their one, two and three years fixed rates. As NZHL is owned by Kiwibank, this may be a signal that Kiwibank is about to make a similar move down.

DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
The Co-operative Bank has reduced rates on their 6, 9 and 12 month TDs, by -5, -10 and -5 bps respectively.

CONSUMER SPENDING STRONG
Retail spending using electronic cards rose in March 2017 to $7 bln, the first time a month other than a December has exceeded this level. The March data was an impressive +6.2% higher than the same month a year ago. Spending on 'hospitality' was up +9.9%, for fuel was up +9.5%, for vehicles up +10.9% and for 'services' up +13.1% from the same month in 2016. Spending weakness showed up in durables and apparel. The hospitality sector is now a $1 bln/month powerhouse, with that level being breached in three of the past four months.

A GAME OF TWO HALVES
ANZ's alternative inflation gauge indicates price rises of +2.3% pa. But that average masks the fact that it is the housing and household utilities group that provides the main impetus for the rises. Purchases of housing rose +1.3% and rents were up a further +0.5% in March from February. The squeeze on building sector labour and housing supply will likely see this group continue to feature strongly in 2017. But elsewhere? not much.

NOT SO BRILLIANT
We have an exclusive report about Mortgage Express who have severed ties with several Chinese brokers at a firm known as Brilliant Finance. There has been a very big reduction in Chinese speaking brokers at Mortgage Express, and the Financial Markets Authority has been called in over conduct and compliance concerns.

CHICKEN NUGGET
Chicken prices have taken a leap to the highest levels we have ever seen, at least in US dollars, according to the IMF monitoring we cover. Lamb is at 58.2 USc/kg, whereas chicken is now at 56.2 USc/kg. (Those  same numbers in NZD are 83.0c/kg and 80.2c/kg.)

THE WORM TURNS
It used to be that being charged for insider trading was rare in New Zealand. But the FMA is changing that, and another case has been settled today with a guilty plea. An individual with interim name suppression today pleaded guilty at the Auckland District Court to one charge of insider trading under section 243 Financial Markets Conduct Act - namely, being an information insider advising or encouraging another person to trade. The FMA alleges that an Eroad employee sent text messages to a former Eroad employee that contained confidential material information relating to Eroad’s performance in the period to 30 September 2015. That individual then traded 15,000 Eroad shares.

BEST SINCE GFC
Trading conditions for Australian businesses last month were at their highest level since the global financial crisis, although confidence remained relatively lackluster during the period.

A TYPICAL AUSSIE
The Aussie census has allowed their statistics authority to reveal the 'typical' Aussie charactteristics. In 2016, the ‘typical’ Australian home is owned with a mortgage, but this differs across the country. For example, the ‘typical’ home in Tasmania and New South Wales is owned outright, while the ‘typical’ Northern Territory home is rented. (In 2006, the ‘typical’ Australian home was owned outright.) Although the ‘typical’ Australian has both parents born in Australia, the ‘typical’ Australian in New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia has at least one parent who was born overseas. In 2016, the ‘typical’ migrant in Australia was born in England and is 44 years old which is actually two years younger than ten years ago. There are however some differences between the states – the ‘typical’ migrant in Queensland was born in New Zealand, while in Victoria the ‘typical’ migrant was born in India. The ‘typical’ migrant in New South Wales was born in China.

TOUGH COMPETITION
Analysis by the Parliamentary Library for the Labour Party shows that the $7.7 mln spent by putting homeless families in motels in the last quarter of 2016 was enough to pay for an average of 400 motel rooms per night, based on the government’s cost estimate. The total cost of $7,700,000 spent on emergency housing grants in the December 2016 quarter is equivalent to spending $83,695.65 per night on average. This demand is competing with tourists who are also finding accommodation in short supply.

WHOLESALE RATES DOWN
Swap rates have lost most of yesterday's gains. They are down -2 bps for two year, up -3 bps for five years, and up -4 bps for ten years. The 90 day bank bill has slipped another -1 bp and is now at 1.96%

NZ DOLLAR HOLDS
The NZD is almost at the exact same level it was at this time yesterday, at 69.5 USc. Against the AUD, the NZD has held on at 92.6 AUc. Against the EUR we are still trading at around the 65.6 euro cents level. The TWI-5 is 74.9.

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