A review of things you need to know before you sign off on Wednesday; RBNZ cuts 50 basis points, retail banks respond, wholesale money markets respond, pollution progress, swaps fall, NZD falls & more

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

MORTGAGE/LOAN RATE CHANGES
ASB trimmed its fixed rates today to match ANZ. More here. Note we are tracking banking app discounts now too. And there were many floating rate changes. See details here. All rates are here.

TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
ASB cut many term deposit rates too. Plus, banks cut savings account rates when they cut their floating lending rates. Details here. The only non-bank to cut rates today was NBS (Nelson Building Society). All updated rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.

THE RBNZ CUT THE OCR BY -50 BPS, DECLARES VICTORY
It is the only story today. See all the details here. Equity markets rose. The NZD fell. And wholesale interest rates fell across the board. Retailers are hoping this will bring 'Christmas cheer'.

STILL LOOKING FOR GREEN SHOOTS
Will vendor optimism be matched by buyer enthusiasm in the spring housing market? More homes are flooding onto an already crowded housing market making potential buyers cautious on price, according to TradeMe Property.

NZX EQUITY MARKET UPDATE
Check out our quick update of how the NZX is faring today, as at 3pm. Vulcan Steel & Heartland lead a charge higher. SkyCity and Hallensteins among those who aren't feeling the love

DAIRY PRICES DIP MARGINALLY
We should also note that the overnight Pulse dairy auction for just WMP and SMP came in less robust than the minor gains expected. The dips were small and most for SMP, but essentially both products are retaining their recent higher levels even if they are slipping slightly.

POLLUTION PROGRESS
StatsNZ and the Ministry for the Environment released an updated report on air pollution in 2024. If found overall improvements. Despite more cars and more distance travelled, vehicle pollution is reducing. But they note that monitoring is only being done comprehensively by Councils in areas they know they have problems. So the actual pollution levels may be lower overall. Looking ahead. areas with drier conditions could experience worsening air quality due to higher fire risks and more windblown dust they say. And warmer temperatures and higher carbon dioxide concentrations could increase the suitable growing areas of major pollen-producing species and enable plants to produce more pollen for longer. “Hay fever affects more than a third of people aged 20-44 years and the number of people affected is increasing," they say,

SWAP RATES DROP
Wholesale swap rates are probably lower today after the MPR, maybe -7 bps at the short end. Our chart below will record the final positions. The 90 day bank bill rate is down another -2 bps to 4.75% but that was a rate set before the MPR. The Australian 10 year bond yield is down -2 bps at 4.21%. The China 10 year bond rate is up +3 bps at 2.19%. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is down -3 bps from this time yesterday at 4.33%. And the earlier RBNZ fix was at 4.29% and down -3 bps from yesterday, but that too was before the MPR. The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.02% and unchanged from yesterday. Their 2yr is now at 3.95%, so that curve is now only positive by +7 bps.

EQUITIES UP EVERYWHERE, EXCEPT SHANGHAI
The NZX50 is up +1.6% in its late Wednesday trade after the MPR. The ASX200 is up +0.3% in afternoon trade. And Tokyo is back up +1.0% at its open. Hong Kong is up +0.9% at its open. Shanghai has started with a -2.5% retreat. Singapore is trading up +0.5% at its open. Wall Street ended its Tuesday trade with the S&P500 back up +1.0%.

OIL DROPS
The oil price is down -US$3 from this time yesterday at just on US$73.50/bbl in the US, and now just under US$77.50/bbl for the international Brent price.

CARBON PRICE DIPS
The carbon price dipped slightly to $61.50/NZU. Volumes traded are still light and bidding is soft. See our new daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.

GOLD LOWER
In early Asian trade, gold is down -US$26 from this time yesterday, now at US$2621/oz.

NZD FALLS
The Kiwi dollar has fallen -30 bps from yesterday, now at 61.1 USc. Against the Aussie we are down -20 bps at 90.6 AUc. And against the euro we are down -30 bps at 55.6 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is down to 69.1 from this time yesterday.

BITCOIN LITTLE-CHANGED
The bitcoin price is down -0.1% from this time yesterday, now at US$62,389. Volatility of the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +/- 1.1%.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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