A review of things you need to know before you sign off on Friday; TSB raises TD rates, building work eases less than expected, passport processing back to normal, carbon price dips, swasp stable, NZD firmish, & 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
None to report today, so far at least. All rates are here.

TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
TSB actually raised some TD rates today up to levels near the top of the market. More here. All updated rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.

DOWN, BUT ONLY SLIGHTLY
We are now getting important Q2 sectorial data ahead of the GDP release due Thursday, September 17. Today it was from the construction sector, "Building Work Put In Place". That revealed a small -0.2% dip from Q1, and down -2.6% year-on-year on a value basis, down -6.1% on a volume (price-adjusted) basis. Residential was down -8.5%, all other construction down only -1.8%. That there are declines will be no surprise, but it probably was a surprise that it was this slight. The hit to GDP will be less than first expected.

RSK CAPITAL PRICED
Westpac has set its initial interest rate for its capital raising via its recent $350 mln Perpetual Preference Share issue. That issue will be based on the 5 year swap rate plus 3.5%, so for the first five years these 'shares' will yield 7.1%. (The margin will apply to a different base after that 5 years.) While these shares rank ahead of ordinary shares, they rank behind everyone else, including depositors. And they will have a BBB+ credit rating, well below the main Westpac rating of AA-.

NZX EQUITY MARKET UPDATE
Check out our quick update of how the NZX is faring today, as at 3pm. We welcome comments on that update story. We have added some key index fund performance tracking.

BACK TO NORMAL
The Passport Office said its backlog has now cleared and that issue times are now 'normal'. Allow two weeks (ten working days).

FMA BOARD RENEWAL
Tracey Berry, Nicholas Hegan and Mariette van Ryn have been appointed for a five-year term ending in August 2029, while Chris Swasbrook, who has served as a board member since April 2019, has been reappointed. This is in addition to Craig Stobo who was appointed as chair earlier this year in May.

SWAP RATES HOLD AT SHORT END
Wholesale swap rates are probably little-changed at the short end again today. Our chart below will record the final positions. The 90 day bank bill rate is down -2 bps at 5.13%. The Australian 10 year bond yield is down -2 bps at 3.94%. The China 10 year bond rate is unchanged at 2.14% after determined Beijing action to keep it from falling. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is down -2 bps at 4.24% and the earlier RBNZ fix was at 4.18% and unchanged from yesterday. The UST 10yr yield is down -4 bps at 3.73%. Their 2yr is also now at 3.72%, so that inversion has returned as -2 bps.

EQUITIES STAY IN TIGHT RANGE
The NZX50 is down -0.3% in its late Friday trade. The ASX200 is up +0.5% in afternoon trade. Tokyo has opened its Wednesday trade down -0.2% at its open. Hong Kong is down -0.1% and Shanghai has opened up +0.2%. Singapore is up +0.4% at its open. Wall Street slipped earlier today, with the S&P500 off by -0.3% in Thursday trade.

OIL HOLDS LOWER
The oil price is marginally softer from this time yesterday at just und US$69.50/bbl in the US, and still just over US$72.50/bbl for the international Brent price.

CARBON PRICE DIPS
Today the carbon price is softer today at $60/NZU and down $1.50. See our new daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.

GOLD FIRM
In early Asian trade, gold is up a +US$19 from yesterday at US$2517/oz.

NZD FIRM
The Kiwi dollar is up +20 bps from this time yesterday, now at 62.2 USc. Against the Aussie we are also up +20 bps at 92.3 AUc. And against the euro we are unchanged at 55.9 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is now just on 70.2 and up +20 bps.

BITCOIN EASES
The bitcoin price is down -1.7% from this time yesterday, now at US$56,716. Volatility of the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +/- 1.8%.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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