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 to report today. All rates are here.
TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
BNZ cut TD rates today, and to the lowest in the market for some terms. Westpac also cut, as did ICBC and Heartland Bank. AMP followed. All updated rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.
SMALLER HOUSES & LESS BUILD-COST PRESSURE
New dwelling consents have fallen back to 2018 levels and build costs are stabilising except for retirement units. The average size of stand-alone houses is shrinking however as the affordability of McMansions fades.
POURING LESS
Ready mixed concrete poured rose in Q2-2024 from Q1-2024 but is still trending lower. Of the major urban centers, Wellington's trend lower is steepest, Auckland less so, and Christchurch is maintaining a level trend. Nationally, Q2-2024 was -9.0% lower than Q2-2023. Regionally, the sharpest falls were in Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Hawkes Bay. Only one region, Northland, showed an increase, up +13% from the same quarter a year ago.
MORE CORRUPTION UNCOVERED
A former Auckland Council building inspector has pleaded guilty to bribery and corruption charges. Appearing in the Manukau District Court, Nicholas Bright admitted to 21 charges of corruption and bribery of an official. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for 20 November 2024. In March 2024, the SFO filed charges against Bright and one other person, a director of a construction company, who also faces 23 charges of corruption and bribery of an official.
PLUS COVID SUPPORT FRAUD
Meanwhile, the IRD is moving ahead identifying an prosecuting fraud that arose out of the pandemic emergency support. Here, here, and here.
EXPENSIVE CAPITAL
BNZ has raised $450 mln in a perpetual preference share issue for funding that qualifies for T1 capital. They will be paying 7.28% for the first six years.
CHINA'S CPI CHANGE STAYS VERY LOW
In China, their consumer inflation picked up from an ultra-low +0.2% in June to +0.5% in July. But food prices are still showing some deflationary effects. Although overall they are u a tiny +0.2% year-on-year, that is only because of a +20% rise in pork prices (from very low levels a year ago). Beef prices are down almost -13% in the year, lamb prices down more than -6%. Milk prices are down -1.9% on the same basis.
CHINA'S PPI STILL DEFLATING
Chinese producer prices are still deflating, down -0.8% in July from the same month a year ago. That is the same fall recorded in June.
SWAP RATES HOLD
Wholesale swap rates are probably little-changed today. Our chart below will record the final positions. The 90 day bank bill rate is back down -9 bps at 5.35%. The Australian 10 year bond yield is down -2 bps from this time yesterday to 4.12%. The China 10 year bond rate is unchanged at 2.15%. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is down -4 bps at 4.32% and the earlier RBNZ fix was at 4.26% and down -8 bps from yesterday. The UST 10yr yield is up +6 bps from this time yesterday at 3.98%. Their 2yr is now at 4.02%, so that curve is still only inverted by just -4 bps.
EQUITIES ALL HIGHER
The NZX50 is up +0.6% in late trade today. The ASX200 is up +1.4% in Friday afternoon trade. Tokyo has risen +1.6% at its open. Hong Kong is up +2.0%. Shanghai is up +0.4% in its opening trade. Singapore is also up +0.4%. Wall Street closed its Thursday trade up a very enthusiastic +2.3% leading to most of the other rises.
OIL UP
The oil price is up +US$1 from this time yesterday at just on US$75.50/bbl in the US, and at just on US$79/bbl for the international Brent price.
CARBON PRICE STILL ON HOLD
Today the carbon price is still holding at $52.50/NZU today, little-changed from yesterday. See our new daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.
GOLD UP AGAIN
In early Asian trade, gold is up +US$34 from this time yesterday at US$2424/oz.
NZD RISES
The Kiwi dollar has risen +20 bps from this time yesterday, now at 60.3 USc. Against the Aussie we are down -30 bps at 91.4 AUc. Against the euro we are +20 bps firmer at 55.5 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is up +20 bps at 69.
BITCOIN JUMPS
The bitcoin price has jumped +6.8% from this time yesterday, now at US$61,243. Volatility of the past 24 hours has been very high at just on +/- 5.2%.
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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