A review of things you need to know before you sign off on Monday; some TD rates dip, ITS company liquidations spike, National pledges 12% KiwiSaver contributions, equities firmish, 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
Again, no changes to report today. 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
Heartland (and AMP) have trimmed their term deposit rates. All updated term deposit rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.

COMPANY LIQUIDATIONS SURGE
We track the official Government Insolvency Service data. Personal bankruptcies are in a rising trend from the 2023 low. No Asset Procedures are holding in the low range that started in late 2021. But the data of the ITS company liquidations that started in 2004 has never been higher, spiking over 100 in October 2025 for the first time ever for any month. Reading this chart (see the fourth tab) shows this worrying surge dramatically.

ELECTION POLICY
National has pledged to increase the KiwiSaver default contribution rates to 12% by 2032 to match Australia (today).

AFTER TWO YEARS ...
It has been two years since the Coalition National-ACT-NZFirst government was elected. In Q4-2023, GDP was +0.6% and the Q2-2025 GDP was -0.2%. There were people 121,300 jobless. Today there are 156,200. Back in Q4-2023 CPI was 4.7%. Now it is 3.0%. Two years ago NZ$1 was worth 59.7 USc and 92 AUc. Today our currency is worth 55.9 USc and 87 AUc.

NZX50 FALLS
As at 3pm, the overall NZX50 index was up +0.4% so far on Monday. That puts it also down -0.2% over the past five working days. But it is up +3.1% year-to-date. From a year ago it is now up +2.1%. Market heavyweight F&P Healthcare is up +0.3% so far today. Gentrack, Investore Property, SkyCity casino and Meridian lead the gains, while Argosy, Tourism Holdings, Air NZ and Genesis are the big decliners.

TAKE OUR NEW QUIZ
Our new quiz is open with an updated challenge, and you can play until 4pm on Sunday. Fo a second consecutive week more than 600 people played. It is open for all, Supporters and those yet to sign up. Anyone can play.

SWAP RATES HOLD
Wholesale swap rates are probably little-changed today. Keep an eye on our chart below which will record the final positions closer to 5pm. The 90 day bank bill rate was down -2 bps at 2.44% on Friday. Today, the Australian 10 year bond yield is down -1 bp at 4.46%. The China 10 year bond rate is little-changed at 1.81%. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is unchanged from this morning at 4.31%. The RBNZ data is now 'prior day' with Friday's rate is up +3 bps at 4.28%. The UST 10yr yield is unchanged at 4.06%.

EQUITIES MOSTLY POSITIVE
The local equity market is up +0.3% in Monday trade so far. The ASX200 is up +1.0% in afternoon trade. Tokyo is not trading today because it is "Labour Thanksgiving Day" in Japan. Hong Kong is up +0.9% but Shanghai is down -0.3%. Singapore is +0.2% firmer at its open. Wall Street futures trade suggests that the S&P500 will open up +0.7% in Monday trade tomorrow.

OIL STAYS LOW
The oil price in the US holding low to just on US$58/bbl and the international Brent price is still just under US$62.50/bbl.

CARBON PRICE HOLDS LOW
There are only a handful of tine trades so far today so hard to assess the price implications. Basically unchanged at $44/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 SOFT
In early Asian trade, gold is down -US$19/oz from this morning, now at US$4045/oz.

NZD HOLDS SOFTISH
The Kiwi dollar is little changed from this morning's open at just under 56.1 USc. Against the Aussie we unchanged at 86.9 AUc. Against the euro we are holding at 48.7 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is down -10 bps from this morning at just on 60.7.

BITCOIN FIRM
The bitcoin price is now at US$87,135 and up +0.6% from this morning. Volatility has been low at just on +/- 1.5%.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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