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 RATE CHANGES
BNZ jumped ahead of the RBNZ and cut its variable rate by -25 bps. It also trimmed all of its fixed rates and some of the key ones are now market-leading. All rates are here.
TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
There were no term deposit rate changes today. But if, as expected, the OCR is cut tomorrow, almost all institutions will be cutting their call and savings rates by about the same amount. All updated term deposit rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.
NEW MORTGAGE ACTIVITY TAKES A DIP IN APRIL
Latest Reserve Bank figures show that on a seasonally adjusted basis, new mortgage commitments were down last month, although the figures were the highest for an April month in four years.
LOW EQUITY LENDING GAINING IN POPULARITY
Just over 40% of mortgages approved to first home buyers in April were low equity loans, according to updated RBNZ tracking data. That is the highest proportion since these records began in 2014 (apart from the similar level in January 2025). Of all new housing loan commitments in April one in eight were for low equity lending, the highest level in any month since November 2013.
A RISING CLAIM ON TAXES
Our analysis of the 2025/26 budget reveals the Government is planning to spend $177.3 bln in that upcoming July-to-June year. The largest single dollop is for NZ Super which will cost $24.7 bln or 13.9% of all commitments. That is up from 13.5% in the year about to end, and 12.7% five years ago. Each 0.1% is now extra spending of more than $175 mln, so it adds up quickly. (For reference, this Budget allocates $112 mln for our Security Intelligence Service.)
RECORD PROFITS
The RBNZ released its summary of bank profitability for the March 2025 quarter, reporting a three month overall profit of $1.991 bln. That is a record for any month. For the year to March, that is $7.5 bln after tax, up +3.6% from the same four quarters in 2024. For the March quarter alone, those tax-paid profits are up +5.3%. Interestingly, these rising profits come as net interest margins tighten. In March they were 2.32%, the lowest since June 2022. We will get to see how the individual banks performed when the Dashboard is released for the same period at 3pm tomorrow (in the shadow of the MPS press conference).
KIWIBANK, AIR NZ ENDING AIRPOINTS PARTNERSHIP
Kiwibank and Air New Zealand are ending their Airpoints credit card partnership on October 31, with customers to be shifted to a platinum Visa card after that. Kiwibank is blaming Commerce Commission regulation of Visa and Mastercard interchange fees. A broader oversight of the regulation is available here, with a look at how Visa and Mastercard operate in NZ here.
EYES ON DAIRY PRICES
It will be worth checking in tomorrow morning on how the overnight GDT Pulse dairy auction fared, because the derivates market signals are all over the place. They suggest SMP could rise more than +3%, but that WMP may take a big tumble, down -10%. We'll see soon enough.
BUYING BACK FROM FOREIGN INVESTORS?
Market speculation, which first surfaced in The Australian, is that a2 Milk is readying a major purchase of production assets in New Zealand. One speculation is that it could involve the Chinese-owned Yashili capacity here.
NZX SLIGHTLY FIRMER
As at 3pm, the overall NZX50 index is up +0.2% so far today. But it is down -0.6% for the past week, down -3.8% since the start of the year, but up +7.0% from this time last year. The Warehouse, Vulcan Steel, Heartland, and Freightways lead the gains, as SkyCity casino, Oceania, The NZX, and Fletcher are the main decliners.
MONOPOLY POWER
Auckland Council-owned Port of Auckland has surprised the freight industry by announcing that port access charges for road transport operators in 2026 will be increased by +77%. The Port’s previously announced a +35% increase for 2026 so this is effectively a doubling of that.
CHINA FACTORIES HOLD ON WELL DESPITE THREATS
Profits at China’s industrial firms rose +1.4% in the first four months of 2025 compared to the same four months in 2024, picking up from +0.8% growth in the January–March period. For April alone, that was a rise of +5.2% from April 2024. Having noted that, April 2024 was a weak base.Still, given the trade challenges, and that China's factories are still very export oriented and vulnerable to trade war risks, this has to be seen as a good result in the circumstances.
SETTLING DOWN
We should probably note that South Korean consumer sentiment jumped in May, rising back to levels that were common in November 2024 and prior. The ugly confusion period when its president went full-Trump and tried a palace coup (which resulted in impeachment, one that was upheld by the courts) is now behind it and Koreans are breathing easier. The rule of law won against a power grab. That is the way things are supposed to work in democratic civilised society. (I'm looking at you, America.) South Koreans will vote in a snap presidential election on Tuesday, June 3.
SWAP RATES SOFTISH
Wholesale swap rates may be a little lower at the short end today in advance of tomorrow's OCR deceision. Keep an eye on our chart below which will record the final positions closer to 5pm. The 90 day bank bill rate was down -1 bp at 3.27% on Monday. The Australian 10 year bond yield is down -5 bps at 4.34%. The China 10 year bond rate is up +2 bps at 1.69%. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is down -6 bps at 4.61% and was down -5 bps to 4.59% in the earlier RBNZ fix today from yesterday. The UST 10yr yield is on 4.49%, down -6 bps.
EQUITIES LANGUID
The NZX50 is up just +0.1% so far today in an easing trend, and the ASX200 is up a mere +0.2% in afternoon trade. Tokyo is down -0.2% in early Tuesday trade. Hong Kong has fallen -0.3% at its open while Shanghai is down -0.2%. Singapore has opened up +0.1%. Wall Street is on holiday for their long Memorial Day weekend, returning Wednesday NZT. The S&P500 futures are up +1.2% at this time. The futures market isn't signaling much conviction however.
OIL HOLDS
The oil price is little-changed at just under US$61.50/bbl in the US, and just on US$64.50/bbl for the international Brent price.
CARBON PRICE DIPS
The carbon price is slightly low, down -70c today at NZ$54.30/NZU with slightly more volume. The next official carbon auction is on Wednesday, June 18, with a $68 floor price. See our daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.
GOLD SLIPS MARGINALLY AGAIN
In early Asian trade, gold is down -US$9/oz from this time yesterday at US$3342/oz.
NZD EASES
The Kiwi dollar is down -40 bps from this time yesterday, now at 59.9 USc. Against the Aussie we are up +10 bps at 92.4 AUc. Against the euro we are down -20 bps at 52.6 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is now at just over 66.5 and -30 bps softer from yesterday.
BITCOIN DIPS SLIGHTLY
The bitcoin price is at US$108,299 and down -1.0% from this time yesterday. Volatility has been modest again at +/-1.0%.
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