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
Two building societies, WBS and Heretaunga BS both reduced fixed home loan rates today. All rates are here.
TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
Heartland Bank reduced TD rates today, as did the Police Credit Union, Heretaunga BS, and China Construction Bank. All updated rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.
MORE SALES AT LOWER PRICES
Dominant Auckland realtor Barfoot & Thompson said their average selling price dropped -$108,700 in July and the median price was down -$50,000. But that fall helped push sales volumes up with vendors 'prepared to meet the market' to get a transaction done.
HOLDING
Commodity prices were little-changed in July in NZD, but down from June to May's level in USD. However. that still makes then more than +8% higher than year ago levels in USD, +11% in NZD.
GRIM WINTER TRADING
Retail spending as monitored by payments processor Worldline was weaker in July. In fact only two regions booked an increase from the same month a year ago - Whanganui and Marlborough. It will make grim reading for retailers.
NATURAL HAZARD INSURANCE COVER
The Natural Hazards Commission (ex-EQC) says a NielsenIQ report has found that only a third (33%) of insured homeowners are confident they know what damage to their home would or would not be covered by insurance after a natural hazard event. Even fewer (26%) were confident they understood what would be covered for damage to their land. They have five suggestions.
PROCEEDS OF CRIME RECOVERY
The Police have recovered almost $620,000 as proceeds from crime in relation to illegal gambling (poker) and money laundering, related to an operation run by a Lower Hutt man, Thomas Mackay Taniwha. This was in addition to the Court penalty of $16,500.
NEW DIRECTOR FOR RABOBANK NZ
Angelique Meddeler, the Netherlands-based Chief Compliance Officer for the Rabobank Group, joins the Rabobank NZ board effective today. Rabobank NZ Chairman Chris Black says Meddeler’s extensive experience in international banking and strong knowledge of the regulatory landscape make her an ideal fit.
EYEWATERING EXPENDS
This cold snap is driving very high electricity prices nationwide and now all day long. Hydro lake levels are low and flows are below normal.
SWAP RATES FALL AGAIN
Wholesale swap rates are probably lower today across the curve, possibly sharply. Our chart below will record the final positions. The 90 day bank bill rate is down -11 bps at 5.33% and a new 500 day low, back to the level just before the surprise +50 bps OCR hike in April 2023. The Australian 10 year bond yield is down -2 bps from this time yesterday to 4.05%. The China 10 year bond rate is still at 2.12% and an all-time record low. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is down -6 bps at 4.21% and the earlier RBNZ fix was at 4.17% and down -5 bps from Friday. The UST 10yr yield is down another -2 bps from this morning at 3.77%. Their 2yr is now at 3.86%, so that curve is now inverted much less, now by -9 bps. That is near the least inversion in two years.
EQUITIES IN MORE RETREATS
The NZX50 is down -1.7% in late trade on the global risk pullback. But the ASX200 is down a sharper -2.5% in afternoon trade. Worse, Tokyo has opened its Monday trade down another -4.6% in a crushing retreat. Hong Kong is down -0.6% at its open. Shanghai is down -0.2%. Singapore is down -2.8%. Wall Street is looking to open its Monday session tomorrow with the futures markets suggesting the S&P500 will open -0.8% lower than Friday's close
OIL HOLDS LOWER
The oil price is little-changed from this morning's open at US$73.50/bbl in the US, and at just over US$77/bbl for the international Brent price.
CARBON PRICE HOLDS
Today the carbon price is still at $53/NZU today unchanged from Friday. That puts it little-different than the same day a year ago, which back then was a period of unusual volatility. See our new daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.
GOLD HOLDS
In early Asian trade, gold is little-changed from this morning at US$2442/oz.
NZD HOLDS
The Kiwi dollar is little-changed from this morning, still at 59.5 USc. Against the Aussie we are up +10 bps at 91.6 AUc. Against the euro we are at 54.5 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is still basically at 68.4.
BITCOIN CRASHES LOWER
The bitcoin price is sharply lower, even from where we were this morning. It is down another -7.3% in those eight hours to US$53,891. Volatility of the past 24 hours has been extreme at just on +/- 8%.
USE OF AI
No articles on this news service are produced with AI. Occasionally we use AI to derive images. They are always identified in the attribution.
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