A review of things you need to know before you sign off on Monday; Westpac's profit slips, insurers hit hard, more storms imminent, more corporate bond issues, swaps up, NZD holds, & more

Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today (or if you already work from home, before you shutdown your laptop).

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
WBS has reduced its 2yr fixed rate by -19 bps The Cooperative Bank has also reduced fixed rates for terms 3 to 5 years, but it has raised rates for fixed terms 6 mth to 2 years.

TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
None here today.

A $214 MLN HIT
Half-year profit drops for Westpac NZ as the bank warns of worsening economic outlook. The profit drop is -33% as the bank takes a $154 mln loan impairment charge.

INSURERS RESIST CONVENIENT COVER/PRICE COMPARISONS BY CONSUMERS
Insurers aren't keen on consumer comparison websites. Treasury emails hint at potential of Commerce Commission market study to see why insurers resist transparency, prefer opacity.

TOUGH STORM COSTS TO CAUSE SPIKE IN PREMIUMS
Tower says the Auckland Anniversary Weekend flood may now cost as much as $225 mln, while it says it won't be paying a half-year dividend to shareholders. "Tower is also increasing its guidance for gross written premium (GWP) growth from a range of 10% to 15%, up to a range of between 15% and 20%. This increase reflects strong rating response to address inflation, reinsurance increases and higher motor and other claims frequency."

SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGS
Metservice says: "A moist northerly flow brings heavy rain to many areas. Heavy rain is expected to affect northern and western parts of the South Island through to Tuesday. Heavy rain is also forecast to affect northern and western parts of the North Island from Tuesday. People are advised to keep up to date with the latest forecasts."

$100 MLN MINIMUM
The NZ operations of the Bank of China has launched a 3 year bond offer for $100 mln "minimum" as unconditional, unsubordinated and unsecured obligations, guaranteed by Bank of China, Auckland Branch. The indicative margin is "115-125bps" so if the 3 year swap rate is 3.60% on May 15, they will yield about 4.80% pa.

UP TO $150 MLN
Auckland International Airport confirmed today that it is offering up to $100 mln of five and a half year fixed rate bonds, with the ability to accept up to NZ$50,000,000 in oversubscriptions at their discretion.

TRACKING CYBER ATTACK INCIDENCE
As a regulator, the RBNZ is concerned about the rising risks of cyber attacks. The ability of cyber attackers to undermine, disrupt, and disable information and communication technology systems used by financial entities is a threat to financial stability. Service outages can affect individuals, businesses and organisations and lead to a loss of confidence where there is lack of alternative providers or disruptions between financial entities. So they are proposing to collect incident reports from industry members.

ON THE WAY BACK UP
The Japanese service sector is expanding at a good solid pace, and their best since this survey began in 2007. The growing expansion is underpinned by rising new orders.

ON THE WAY DOWN?
Australia's business confidence improved marginally in April from March but remains well below its long term average. Despite that improvement, the economists behind the survey expect things to weaken as 2023 progresses. They see 'conditions' as resilient but the business community without conviction that will continue, which is why they are downbeat looking ahead. The Australian 2023 Budget will be released tomorrow afternoon/evening NZT.

HOUSING CRUNCH TO GET WORSE FOR BUYERS/RENTERS
In Australia, the first quarter of 2023 saw the lowest number of building approvals since 2012, just as their population growth reaches a record high. Workers there are going to need all their extra pay increases just for rent and mortgages. Higher pay across the ditch (than here) isn't everything for everyone.

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SWAP RATES UP
Wholesale swap rates are probably up today, especially for 2 years and longer. However, the real action in swap rates comes near the close. Our chart will record the final positions. The 90 day bank bill rate is unchanged at 5.62% and 37 bps above the OCR. The Australian 10 year bond yield is now at 3.41% and up +1 bp from this morning. The China 10 year bond rate is also up +1 bp at 2.76%. And the NZ Government 10 year bond rate is now at 4.20% which is up +7 bps from this morning, but still above the earlier RBNZ fix at 4.14% which up +4 bps from Friday. See this local yield curve review. The UST 10 year yield is now at 3.43% and unchanged from this morning.

EQUITIES MIXED AGAIN
The NZX50 is little changed today from Friday's close. The ASX200 is up +0.7% in Monday afternoon trade. Tokyo has returned from holiday down -0.6%. Hong Kong is up +0.5% in their early Monday trade, which Shanghai is up an enthusiastic +1.5% at their Monday open. The S&P500 futures suggest that Wall Street will open +0.3% in theri Monday trade.

GOLD HOLDS
In early Asian trade, gold is little-changed at US$2020/oz and up +US$2 from where we opened this morning.

NZD HOLDS
The Kiwi dollar is holding at 63 USc. Against the Aussie we are softish at 93.2 AUc. And against the euro we are softish too at 57.1 euro cents. That means the TWI-5 is little-changed at 70.6.

BITCOIN SOFTER
The bitcoin price has fallen today, now at US$28,240 and down -2.4% from where we opened this morning. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at +/- 1.8%.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

Keep abreast of upcoming events by following our Economic Calendar here ».