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Cadbury, DLA Piper and Maersk among those affected by cyber attack; BoC and BoE talk up rate hikes; Italian bank bailout sparks waves; US home sales disappoint; UST 10yr yield 2.22%; oil up, gold stable, iron ore up; NZ$1 = 73.1 US¢, TWI-5 = 77.0

Cadbury, DLA Piper and Maersk among those affected by cyber attack; BoC and BoE talk up rate hikes; Italian bank bailout sparks waves; US home sales disappoint; UST 10yr yield 2.22%; oil up, gold stable, iron ore up; NZ$1 = 73.1 US¢, TWI-5 = 77.0

Here's my summary of the key events from overnight, with news some New Zealand arms of global companies are shutting down their operations as a precaution against a worldwide ransomware attack.

Cadbury NZ and DLA Piper's local office have confirmed they were affected by the Petya malware, which is locking computer data. Global shipping giant Maersk was one of the first major companies to be hit with the virus, and has taken its communications offline to manage risk. The Ports of Auckland has told the Herald this is a problem as the port won't be able to receive information on containers.

The virus has spread from the Ukraine to wreak havoc around the globe. It has disrupted ports from Mumbai to LA, halted production at a chocolate factory in Australia and affected the US delivery firm FedEx Corp, among others.

The governor of the Bank of Canada says interest rate cuts in 2015 seem to “have done their job”, raising speculation of a July rate hike. Meanwhile the governor of the Bank of England has commented higher rates are likely to “become necessary”.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is supporting Italy’s controversial 17 billion euro bank bailout announced this week. The move has drawn criticism from various German authorities, who have said Italy flouted European Union laws aimed at better protecting taxpayers in the wake of the GFC. Yet the ECB’s vice president has come out saying no rules were broken and no one’s been given special treatment. The two Italian banks’ senior creditors haven’t taken any losses due to the bailout.

An early look at US trade patterns in May points to a small decline in the nation’s trade deficit. The advanced trade gap in goods fell by 1.8% to US$66 billion in May. A lower deficit gives a boost to domestic GDP.

US pending home sales disappointed in May, falling 0.8% month on month, on top of a downwardly revised 1.7% fall in April. This is the third consecutive month of decline, albeit from strong levels. ANZ economists say supply constraints could be a factor, but purchasers may also have front-run the most recent rate hike.

In New York, the UST 10yr yield has increased again today to 2.22%.

The US crude oil price has moved up to US$45 a barrel. The Brent benchmark is just over US$47.

Gold is stable at US$1,249/oz.

​The iron ore price is still making big moves higher. On top of Tuesday's 5.2% jump, yesterday there was another 4.4% rise, meaning the price has risen more than 10% this week and is well above US$60/tonne. Sudden Chinese buying is fuelling this new rally.

The New Zealand dollar has strengthened to 73.1 USc. It’s inched back to 95.6 AU¢, and remains low at 64.2 euro cents. The TWI-5 index is up to 77.0.

If you want to catch up with all the changes yesterday, we have an update here.

The easiest place to stay up with event risk today is by following our Economic Calendar here ».

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6 Comments

Meanwhile in Venezuela:

BREAKING: Possible coup attempt underway in Venezuela; Tanks in the streets, helicopter stolen…

http://investmentwatchblog.com/breaking-possible-coup-attempt-underway-…

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As Elon Musk races to finish building the world’s biggest battery factory in the Nevada desert, China is poised to leave him in the dust.

Chinese companies have plans for additional factories with the capacity to pump out more than 120 gigawatt-hours a year by 2021, according to a report published this week by Bloomberg Intelligence. That’s enough to supply batteries for around 1.5 million Tesla Model S vehicles or 13.7 million Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrids per year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Read more

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If you want to do a like-for-like cradle-to-grave analysis, you have to consider the CO2 emitted getting the petrol into your tank from the unrefined oil well plus how much CO2 was emitted making your vehicle.
I have seen claims that a fossil fuel vehicle uses 7 times more CO2 over its lifetime than an EV:
https://ecotricity.co.nz/cradle-to-grave-emissions/

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Seems like the US economy is in for a slow down with Trump in charge.

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