A review of things you need to know before you sign off on Tuesday; SBS ends six-month TD 6.5% special, Westpac's online gambling block, Kathmandu sales slump, hybrid tweak for road user charges, swaps static, NZD drifts, & 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/LOAN RATE CHANGES
No changes.

TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
SBS has ended its market-leading (among the banks) 6.5%, six-month special rate - dropping that down to be more 'among the pack' at 6.10%, while SBS's other TD rates have been trimmed by between 5 and 20 basis points, with the one-year rate unchanged at 6.05% .

The Co-operative Bank also looked at its six-month TD rate and dropped it from 6.15% to 6.10%.

ONLINE GAMBLING BLOCK
Westpac NZ has introduced an optional online gambling block for customers. Westpac NZ Manager Financial Inclusion and Vulnerability, Louisa Brock, says the block is something customers asked for. Westpac says from 26 June - 25 September 2023, its customers spent $136.8 million with online gambling merchants (compared with just $3.2 million spent at physical gambling locations in that period). Nearly half of that online spend was with TAB and Lotto. Customers who want the block can call the bank or visit a branch to request a gambling block – the block will then be applied to all their credit/debit cards.

'WEAKNESS OF CONSUMER SENTIMENT' SEES KATHMANDU TAKE A HIT
KMD Brands the NZX-listed parent of the Kathmandu, Rip Curl and Oboz labels has slumped to a $9.7 million half-year loss, with sales at Kathmandu being particularly savaged - dropping 22.9% in Australia and 15.9% in New Zealand and Kathmandu online sales plunging 36.9%. Managing Director Michael Daly said KMD Brands "continued to experience the effects of weakness in consumer sentiment" with total group sales 14.5% below last year’s record. "Weaker consumer sentiment, the warmest winter on record in Australia and an over-reliance on winter weight product led to a disappointing first half for Kathmandu".

REDUCED ROAD USER CHARGE FOR PLUG-IN HYBRIDS
The Government's now agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. "The reduced RUC rate for PHEVs is a temporary measure to lessen distortions while we get to work on transitioning the entire vehicle fleet to the road user charges system and away from fuel excise."

3G OR NOT 3G - THE TELCO INDUSTRY'S HEADACHE
The older 3G technology dating from 2001, which telcos would like to move away from, is turning out to be harder to kill than expected. In our part of the world, it's fair to say that the telecommunications industry has not managed the 3G network closures well, with late, confusing and inadequate communication.

AUCKLAND HOUSING COMPLETIONS MAY BE PEAKING
The latest figures show that dwelling completions in Auckland may be peaking and the expected decline in Auckland's new housing supply is probably not far off.

REMINDER
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SWAP RATES LOOKING STATIC
Still all looking very 'wait and see' here ahead of the various central bank announcements this week. Wholesale swap rates are maybe slightly higher Tuesday. Our chart below records the final positions. The 90 day bank bill rate is up 2bps at 5.67%. The Australian 10 year bond yield is up 1bp at 4.15%. The China 10 year bond rate is down 2bs at 2.30% from this time Monday. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is up 3 bps at 4.75%. The UST 10yr yield is down 2bps at 4.32%.

NZ ONE OF THE BRIGHTER EQUITY LIGHTS
After a down start to the week the NZX50 is looking brighter on Tuesday with a gain on the day so far of about 0.3%. However, across the ditch, the ASX200 is down very slightly in early afternoon trade. Tokyo, after a bright start on Monday, is down 0.7% Tuesday. Hong Kong is mirroring the Tokyo performance, with a 0.7% drop, while Singapore down too but by less than 0.1%. Shanghai is down slightly more than 0.1%. Much earlier, in the US, the S&P500 gained 0.6%.

LITTLE OIL MOVEMENT
Oil prices moved down a little on Tuesday, with WTI at US$82.60/bbl in the US while the Brent price has similarly edged down to US$86.80/bbl.

GOLD ON A BIT OF A ROLLER COASTER
In early Asian trade, gold was down around US$2 from prices earlier in the day, but up nevertheless around US$8 from this time on Monday at US$2160/oz.

NZD DRIFTS LOWER
The Kiwi dollar is still slightly drifting, having fallen a little overnight and then by about the same amount during Tuesday. It's at 60.7 USc, down from 60.9 USc this time Monday. Against the Aussie we are similarly slightly down at 92.7 AUc. Against the euro we are at 55.8 euro cents from 55.9 on Monday. This all means the TWI-5 has drifted too, from 69.3 Monday to 69.1.

BITCOIN FLOPS AGAIN
Bitcoin had just had another swoon at time of writing and had dropped around 3% to under US$66,000 in an hour at one point. Most recent price was US$65,900, which is down about 2.6% in the past 24 hours. The price has been as high as US$68,800 during that time. Volatility is the word.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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