A review of things you need to know before you sign off on Thursday; REINZ data mixed, inflation pressures ease, Kookmin to quit NZ, Rennie gets top Treasury job, Bank of China here 10 years, swaps stable, NZD weaker, & 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.

TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
Liberty Financial trimmed all their TD rates today. All updated rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.

A MIXED OCTOBER
While some analysts see "a shift in momentum", in fact after adjusting for seasonal factors and a shift in the mix of the types of houses selling, the October real estate market activity was in fact little changed with a whiff of downside. That is consistent with the huge rise in listings occurring. More here.

INFLATION WATCH
Statistics NZ's monthly Selected Price Indexes show that inflationary pressures are now continuing to look subdued following the big rises of the past few years. Food prices drop in October, while rents now show the smallest rate of increase in a year.

NO SIGN OF DECLINING LENDING STANDARDS
Debt to income ratios nudge higher but are still well contained. The latest quarterly RBNZ figures show that the levels of new high debt-to-income borrowing are still well below the official limits that came into force in July this year.

MODERNISED INSURANCE LAW PASSES THIRD READING
The Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister says the Contracts of Insurance Bill and the Contracts of Insurance (Repeals and Amendments) Bill has passed its third reading and will provide “significant new safeguards” for consumers. Andrew Bayly says the new Bill means it will be up to insurers to “ask the right questions” and people will simply need to answer honestly. Under the existing “outdated” law, people have had to disclose any information that could influence an insurer, leading to voided insurance claims when people have unknowingly or accidentally failed to disclose information. Bayly says the changes will ensure the viability of a “fair and well-functioning insurance market”.

NZX EQUITY MARKET UPDATES
Check out our quick update of how the NZX is faring today, as at 3pm. NZX edges down -0.2% as Stride Property, NZX, Oceania, and Gentrack rise; Kiwi Property, Serko, Fletcher Building, and Vulcan Steel decline

PLENTY OF DEMAND
There was another very well supported NZ Govt bond tender today in three maturities. 111 bids were received totalling $1.4 bln for the $500 mln on offer. Just 44 of those bids were successful. All YTMs rose from the prior equivalent events.

안녕히 가세요
Kookmin Bank, a branch of the giant Korean bank has decided to quit the New Zealand banking market, basically because it sees no sustainable path without being able to take deposits, and the RBNZ has moved against allowing branches of overseas banks to continue to do that. Their decision is to not incorporate a subsidiary here, which would be subject to full RBNZ regulation.

WILLIS APPOINTS AN INSIDER
Ian Rennie has been appointed Secretary to the Treasury. He is a veteran public servant, an economist who has worked in the public service for more than 30 years. In prior roles he has been the State Services Commissioner, and a deputy Treasury Secretary.

CHANGE "BUT ONLY IF FISCALLY NEUTRAL"
The Government says it plans to review the tax status of commercial charities (like Sanitarium) and the NZ Super Fund but wants policy changes to be fiscally neutral because "There's no money".

恭喜你
The Bank of China is here to stay, with its New Zealand subsidiary celebrating 10 years in New Zealand. It says it now has now has over 2,500 customers with $2.1 bln in residential mortgages. It also says it is the eighth-largest bank here and sixth in corporate lending with 20% of all infrastructure banking finance.

PART-TIME JOBS RISE FAST
The Australian labour market update for October shows employment rising by +16,000 when a +25,000 rise was expected. Their participation rate slipped slightly, allowing their jobless rate to hold at 4.1%. But this also means their employed workforce is +387,000 higher than a year ago, a healthy +2.7% rise. But almost 40% of that rise was for part-time work; a year ago part-time jobs made up only 31%, so the shift away from full-time positions is rising.

TAX CUTS DON'T BOOST SPENDING
And staying in Australia, their largest bank has concluded that the "stage 3 tax cuts" are not flowing through to more consumer spending, rather being used to build resilience (or build back some capacity) by paying debt down faster, mainly mortgages.

SHORT SWAP RATES HOLD
Wholesale swap rates are probably a little softer at the short end today. But the long end is still rising. Our chart below will record the final positions. The 90 day bank bill rate is back down -2 bps at 4.45%. The Australian 10 year bond yield is up +4 bps from this time yesterday to 4.75%. The China 10 year bond rate is little-changed at just on 2.10%. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is up +5 bps at 4.86% while the earlier RBNZ fix was at 4.74% and up +1 bp from yesterday. The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.48% and up +5 bps from yesterday. Their 2yr is down to 4.31%, so that curve is now more positive, now by +17 bps.

EQUITIES MIXED & MINOR
The NZX50 is actually up +0.2% in Thursday trade with a late firming. The ASX200 is up +0.3% in afternoon trade today. Tokyo has opened with a minor -0.1% retreat. Hong Kong is down -0.8% at its open. Shanghai is down -0.2%. Singapore is down also down -0.2%. Wall Street ended flat in Wednesday trade on the S&P500.

OIL HOLDS
The oil price is little-changed from this time yesterday, still just under US$68.50/bbl in the US, and unchanged at US$72/bbl for the international Brent price.

CARBON PRICE LITTLE-CHANGED
The carbon price is little-changed today, in modest volumes again, now at $63.60/NZU. See our new daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.

GOLD FALLS AGAIN
In early Asian trade, gold is down another -US$43 from this time yesterday, now at US$2565/oz.

NZD FALLS
The Kiwi dollar is down -60 bps from this time yesterday, now at 58.7 USc. Against the Aussie we down -20 bps at 90.6 AUc. And against the euro we are also down -20 bps to 55.6 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is now down another -30 bps at 68.3.

BITCOIN RISES
The bitcoin price has risen +2.1% from this time yesterday, now at US$90,244. Volatility of the past 24 hours has been very high at just under +/- 4.2%.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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