A review of things you need to know before you sign off on Monday; few retail rate changes, B&T's listings surge, auctions go regional, Westpac profit rises, livestock prices firm, car sales hang in, swaps flat, NZD firmish, & 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
No changes to report today. All rates are here.

PERSONAL LOAN RATE CHANGE
FinanceNow reduced its minimum personal loan rate by -100 bps to 11.95%, although they kept their maximum at 29.95% (not a typo).

TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
The Bank of India trimmed all its TD rates 9 months and longer. All updated rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.

LISTING SURGE, LOWER SALES TRANSACTIONS, PRICE FIRM
Dominant Auckland realtor Barfoot & Thompson said their sales volumes slipped declined in October from September but median and average prices rose, and new listings surged to a record high. (A slip in sales volumes in October from September last happened in 2017.)

AUCTION ACTIVITY SHIFTS TO THE REGIONS
There were fewer auctions in Auckland last week but higher numbers in the regions. 188 properties sold of the 428 brought to market this way. The sales rate has hovered between 41% and 44% in all but two of the last 10 weeks, even as the number of properties being auctioned has risen considerably in that time.

NZX EQUITY MARKET UPDATE
Check out our quick update of how the NZX is faring today, as at 3pm.& Serko, Stride and AirNZ top the gainers, Freightways, The Warehouse, and a2Milk are among the biggest decliners.

PROFIT UP AS FIXED LOAN RATES FALL FOR SOME
Annual profit up for Westpac NZ as income rises and loan impairments fall. Profit is up +16% and they note that a quarter of fixed home loan customers will be on lower rates by year's end.

FIRMER LIVESTOCK PRICES MAY NOT LAST
Some livestock schedule prices are rising. Although market conditions have remained largely unchanged, demand from China for products arriving for China New year, is providing price support. And buyers for the UK, & EU holiday periods are also keeping prices firm. The US beef market remains stable. In all cases a low NZD is helping as well. However, venison prices are under pressure with Silver Fern Farms making cuts to their schedule. And it is worth noting that processors are not offering premiums this year for early commitment of prime livestock for the December period. Lamb producers should watch the live-shipment shifts in Australia. If they are stopped, competitive pressure will pile on from that quarter. Prices from specific processors are in our rural price database.

NEW CAR DEMAND HANGING IN THERE
There were 9504 new passenger cars sold in October, almost +1000 more than in September, but -5.4% less than in October 2023. (The average for an October month in the prior ten years has been 10,100.) The NEV share is about half at 4560, of which only 648 were EVs, the rest hybrids. (Commercial vehicle sales in October stayed low at 2820, similar to last year, but well below its ten year average of ~3900.)

AUSSIE INFLATION PERSISTS ALTHOUGH IN RANGE
In Australia, the Melbourne Institute Monthly Inflation Gauge recorded a rise in both monthly and annual inflation during October. The monthly rise (+0.4%) was the most since July. But the annual rise (+2.1%) is still within the RBA's desired range. The monthly and annual cost of living also rose across selected household types (age pensioners, pensioners and beneficiaries, employees, government transfer recipients, and self-funded retirees).

SWAP RATES HOLD
Wholesale swap rates are probably little-changed to start the week - again. Our chart below will record the final positions. The 90 day bank bill rate is down -3 bps at 4.48%. The Australian 10 year bond yield is up +5 bps from this morning at 4.61%. The China 10 year bond rate is unchanged at 2.14%. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is up +13 bps from this morning, now at 4.53% while the earlier RBNZ fix was at 4.57% and up +8 bps from Friday. The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.32% and down -7 bps from this morning. Their 2yr is unchanged at 4.21%, so that curve is now less positive, by +11 bps.

EQUITIES MOSTLY FIRMER
The NZX50 is up +0.1% in late Monday trade. The ASX200 is up +0.3% in afternoon trade today. Tokyo has opened down -2.6%. Hong Kong is up +0.4% at its open. Shanghai is up +0.5%. Singapore is also up +0.5%. Wall Street is signaled to open Monda up +0.5% in after-hours S&P500 futures trade.

OIL FIRMER
The oil price is up +US$1 from this morning, just on US$70.50/bbl in the US, and just on US$74.50/bbl for the international Brent price.

CARBON PRICE UNCHANGED
The carbon price unchanged again today, still at $63/NZU in unremarkable trade. See our new daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.

GOLD HOLDS
In early Asian trade, gold is up +US$3 from this morning, now at US$2739/oz.

NZD FIRMISH
The Kiwi dollar is up +30 bps from this morning, now at 60 USc. Against the Aussie we are down -10 bps at 90.8 AUc. And against the euro we are up +10 bps at 55.1 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is up +10 bps at 68.8.

BITCOIN RECOVERS
The bitcoin price has risen +1.1 from this morning, now at US$68,931. Volatility of the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +/- 1.4%.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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