A review of things you need to know before you go home on Thursday; more rate rises, housing sales slumped in March, factories expanded, eyes on health insurance, swaps little-changed, NZD weaker, & more

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

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
ASB and Westpac came through with their floating rate increases, joining ANZ and BNZ. More here. So far only ANZ has also raised fixed rates. But Kiwibank's website revealed that their one year fixed rose from 3.99% to 4.15%.

TERM DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
ANZ has raised TD rates by between +5 and +25 bps across the board. ASB and Westpac both raised savings account rates, by +30 bps in ASB's case and +20 bps or +30 bps in Westpac's case. General Finance also raised its TD offer rates. Heartland Bank has increases its term deposit and savings account rates. They are the among the first banks to offer 3% for one year in this cycle. Rabobank also increased all its TD rates and now have a one year rate of 3.05%.

BUYERS MARKET
Housing sales slumped in March, prices down -2.1% from February. On a seasonally adjusted basis they were down -4.8%. Housing market could be heading for a long cold winter with March sales at a 10-year low for the month and prices falling in most parts of NZ. From the November peak, prices are down -4.1%.

PERVERSE SUPPLY SIDE TROUBLES
The factory sector seems to be doing well, with the March PMI expanding slightly faster than in February. But the overall result was kept up by strong new order inflows. But staffing shortages meant that production levels are weak, deliveries are also contracting, and cost increases are high. Those 'strong' new orders may just be an over-reaction buy buyers who just want to get their goods and feel they now need to over-order or bring forward orders.

MOBILE BANKING FREE OF DATA COSTS
A partnership between BNZ and 2degrees means customers are now able to access free mobile data while banking on the BNZ app, BNZ online banking or the BNZ website, on their phone and when connected to the 2degrees mobile network.

REDEFINING "INSURANCE"?
A Consumer NZ mystery shop of 14 insurance companies has revealed customers who sought advice or help for their mental health could be regarded as ‘high-risk’ claimants. This could result in the addition of exclusion clauses to their policies that Consumer considers unfair, "as they deny customers cover when they need it most". They seem to be suggesting insurers should be covering pre-exiting conditions and "insurance" should operate like a health benefit. Consumer NZ found mental health exclusions could be added after speaking to a GP about stress, marriage counselling and bullying.

ANOTHER KIWISAVER OPTION
Fund manager Kernel is adding a new KiwiSaver option in addition to its index fund set. Its High Growth KiwiSaver Plan has one-fifth the fees cost of the average high growth/aggressive KiwiSaver scheme, according to Sorted.org.

ANOTHER ONE MOVES UP
Bank of Korea raised its base policy interest rate today by +25 bps to 1.50%, the highest level since August 2019 in an unexpected move as it seeks to curb surging inflation, which is now double the bank's 2% target.

GOOD BUT NOT GREAT
In Australia, their March labour market data revealed only minor changes. Employment rose +17,900 to a fresh record high of 13.4 mln, below market forecasts of +40,000, as full-time employment increased by +20,500 to 9,248,600 while part-time employment fell -2,700 to 4,141,300. Their jobless rate was unchanged at 4.0%. Despite all the small gains, the total number of hours worked in their economy slipped, and not for the first time. The March 2022 level is actually lower than the March 2021 level. And total hours worked in March 2022 was lower than for February 2022.

GOLD FIRMER
In early Asian trading, gold is up +US$8 from this time yesterday at just on US$1979/oz.

EQUITIES ALL FIRMER
On Wall Street, the S&P500 closed up +1.1% in Wednesday trade. Tokyo has opened up +1.2% and building on yesterday's rise. Hong Kong has opened up +0.3%, and Shanghai has opened +0.6% firmer. The ASX200 is up +0.4% in early afternoon trade. The NZX50 is up +0.1% in late Thursday trade but heading for a -1.5% weekly retreat.

SWAPS SETTLE IN
We don't have today's closing swap rates yet. They are likely to be little-changed after yesterday's down reaction. After the +50 bps RBNZ hike, financial markets have nothing priced in for the May 25, 2022 RBNZ review, which seems strange. Update: The data set we follow has been updated and +44 bps of a +50 bps is being priced in.. The 90 day bank bill rate is up a very unusual +7 bps at 1.79%. The Australian Govt ten year benchmark bond rate is down -7 bps from this time yesterday, now at 2.98%. The China Govt 10yr is little-changed at 2.82%. And the New Zealand Govt 10 year bond rate is down -4 bps at 3.47% and just below the earlier RBNZ fix for that 10yr rate at 3.48% (down -7 bps) which pre-dated the OCR call. The US Govt ten year is now at 2.68% and another down -7 bps since this time yesterday in a growing reversal.

NZ DOLLAR WEAKER
The Kiwi dollar has recovered somewhat from the overnight slump and is now at 68.2 USc and -½c lower since this time yesterday.  Against the Aussie we are more than -½c lower at 91.4 AUc. Against the euro we are nearly -1 c lower at 62.6 euro cents. That means the TWI-5 is now at 73.9, and and a -70 bps depreciation since this time yesterday.

BITCOIN FIRMER
Bitcoin is firmer, now at US$41,391 and up +3.3% since this time yesterday. Volatility in the past 24 hours has been moderate at just under +/-2.4%.

HOLIDAY BREAK
It is a long weekend holiday in New Zealand, the four day Easter break. This review will return on Tuesday. News and analysis will be posted on Saturday, Sunday and Monday however.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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