A review of things you need to know before you sign off on Wednesday; BNZ next to cut mortgage rates, landlords in weak position, dairy prices slip again, job ads tick up slightly, NZ Super Fund shines, swaps and NZD stable. & 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 RATE CHANGES
BNZ is the next to cut most fixed rates. Details here. All rates are here. And note, you can compare mortgage offers with our new calculator that takes into account other costs and cashback incentives, here.

TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
ASB, BNZ and Heartland (and AMP) reduced rates today. And we have summarised where these rates have landed, here. All updated term deposit rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.

SURPLUS SUPPLY, LOWER RENTS
Trade Me Property says the balance of power between tenants and landlords is shifting in tenants' favour. They note that more properties are available to rent and rents are in decline.

DAIRY PRICES SLIP AGAIN
Busted tech spoiled the initial reporting of today's GlobalDairyTrade auction results. When it was fixed, the result was a -1.4% overall fall in USD, down -0.4% in NZD. The key WMP price fell -2.4% and the SMP price fell -1.6%. Only AMF rose. These changes are different to what we reported earlier today.

STILL ON THE CANVAS, BUT TRYING TO GET UP
The latest BNZ/Seek job ads report suggests that job ad levels are tickup up slightly at last, but off a very low base. They note that other employment indicators are still quite mixed and the wage growth remains very subdued.

NOT SO HOPEFUL THEY WILL STAFF-UP
Sort of related, Retail NZ’s latest Retail Radar survey reveals that while retailers are cautiously optimistic heading into the festive season, most are not planning to hire additional staff for Christmas trading.

LONG TERM INVESTOR GENERATES OUTSIZED RETURNS
The NZ Super Fund released its Annual Report for the year to June 2025 today. The Fund generated a pre-tax return of +11.8% after costs. It paid the Crown income tax of $1.53 bln, one of the largest taxpayers the Government has. It has 11.3% of its assets invested in New Zealand, 2.4% in Australia, 3.5% in Japan, 4.6% in other Asian economies, 18% in the EU and 57% in North America. Over its lifetime, its average pre-tax return has been 9.9% pa. As good as the NZ Super Fund is, it was pipped by Australia's Future Fund and their +12.2% result (but it only paid AU$72 mln in income tax).

NZX50 RETREATS
As at 3pm, the overall NZX50 index was lower in its Wednesday session, down -0.4% so far. That puts it +0.2% firmer over the past five working days. It is up +2.0% year-to-date. From a year ago it is now up +4.0%. Market heavyweight F&P Healthcare is down -1.7% today. Investore, Argosy, PFI and Hallensteins rise but Gentrack, Scales, Vulcan Steel, and Serko decline.

DOWNGRADED
The Government is moving to downgrade requirements for listed companies to report their climate mitigation strategies & progress. If you don't measure, it will cease to be a priority and we won't know if any progress is bing made. But the importance of progress won't change for the society these companies operate in.

NOSE-DIVE
Air NZ says it will likely make a big loss because domestic demand is weaker than expected and the expected uplift in bookings from the US just isn't happening. They are now looking at a -$55 mln first half loss. They had expected a +$34 mln profit in this period, so its a -$100 mln shift.

YES TO DAWN MEATS, WP HAS NO FARMER FRIENDS
Alliance Group farmer-shareholders have voted in favour of a proposed $270 mln joint venture investment by Dawn Meats. Dawn Meats, one of Europe’s leading red meat processors, will acquire a 65% shareholding in Alliance Group, with farmer-shareholders retaining a 35% stake. A total of 2,675 shareholders voted, representing 92,495,558 shares or more than 88% of all shares on issue. Of these, more than 87% voted in favour of the proposal, meeting the threshold required under the Takeovers Code.

STARTING TO SPEND $1 BLN FOR BETTER RETURNS
Fonterra said today it will invest $75 mln to expand butter production at its South Canterbury Clandeboye site as part of the next phase of strategic investments which will total $1 bln over the next three to four years. It is all part of their new drive to raise returns and extract operational cost efficiencies. 

NOW'S GOOD
With an economy mired in the doldrums, it is vital that reporting on what is happening stays comprehensive, open and free. We need our Supporters now more than ever. If you can support us you can go ad-free too.

SWAP RATES ON HOLD
Wholesale swap rates are will likely be little-changed today across the board. 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 on Tuesday at 2.52%. Today, the Australian 10 year bond yield is down -2 bps from yesterday at 4.11%. The China 10 year bond rate is unchanged at 1.77%. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is down -1 bp at 3.99%. The RBNZ data is now all delayed with Tuesday's rate down -3 bps to 3.97%. The UST 10yr yield is down another -3 bps at 3.96%.

EQUITIES MOSTLY LOWER
The local equity market is now down -0.4% in Wednesday trade so far. However, the ASX200 is down -0.9% in afternoon trade. Tokyo has opened down -0.8%. Hong Kong is down -0.7% at its open. Shanghai is down -0.2% to start their Wednesday trade. Singapore is unchanged at its open. The Wall Street ended its Tuesday trade also essentially unchanged on the S&P500.

OIL UP MARGINALLY
The oil price in the US is up +50 USc to just under US$57.50/bbl and the international Brent price is now just on US$61.50/bbl.

CARBON PRICE HOLDS
There have been very few trades again today and the price has held at $55.90/NZU. The next official carbon auction is on December 3, 2025 and likely heading for another failure. See our daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.

GOLD RETREATS SHARPLY, SILVER TOO
In early Asian trade, gold is down a massive -US$251 from this time yesterday, now at US$4092/oz. Silver is down at US$48.50/oz now.

NZD MARGINALLY FIRMER
The Kiwi dollar is holding from this time yesterday at 57.4 USc. Against the Aussie we are up +30 bps at 88.5 AUc. Against the euro we are up +20 bps at 49.5 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is up +10 bps at 62.

BITCOIN DIPS
The bitcoin price is now at US$108,454 and down -1.0% from this time yesterday. Volatility has again been moderate, at +/- 2.7%.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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

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