A review of things you need to know before you sign off on Friday; no-one follows ANZ, fuel prices jump, other prices don't, a new hydro plant approved, livestock prices ease, Mobil finds local buyer, swaps steepen, NZD softish, & 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
No changes to report today - so far. And so far, no other bank has hiked to follow ANZ. Update: Westpac has matched ANZ but only for the 12 and 18 month fixed rates. All current mortgage 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
No changes here either. Update. Westpac has raised its 18 month an 2 year TD rates, matching ANZ for these tersm. All updated term deposit rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.

HEAVY PRICE PRESSURE IN MARCH, AS EXPECTED
Petrol prices jumped +19% while diesel prices increased +43% from February to March, according to Statistics New Zealand's latest Selected Price Indexes figures.

NO PRICE PRESSURE IN MARCH, NOT EXPECTED
Meanwhile, food prices were up +3.4% in March from a year ago, less than the February +4.5% rise. That is now a 13 month low. The reason is they eased -0.6% in March from February on lower fruit and vegetable prices. Grocery food prices also dipped, by -0.8% in the month and were only +1.2% higher from a year ago. With all the talk about "rising inflation" in March, these food price changes may surprise some readers.

RENTS STALL
The same StatsNZ data shows a general stalling in residential rents in March. New rents are down -0.4% from a year ago. Rents for existing tenancies were up +0.7%.

REARRANGING HOUSEHOLD SPENDING
Separately, StatsNZ reported retail sales activity as revealed in electronic card payment transactions. That was up only +2.5% overall, with fuel taking a larger bite, offset by falls in some key areas like apparel and hospitality.

A NEW HYDRO PLANT GETS APPROVAL
A small new hydro power project (23MW) has been approved for construction, south of Hokitika, bringing to a close a strung-out 23 year application timeline.

NZX50 MODESTLY LOWER
As at 3pm, the overall NZX50 index is down -0.4% so far today. It is heading for a -1.2% weekly dip. It is down -2.0% from six months ago. From a year ago it is up a net +7.4%. Market heavyweight F&P Healthcare is up +0.3% so far today. Oceania, Vista, Skellerup and Kiwi Property rose but Fletchers, Gentrack, AirNZ and Mercury retreated

REVERSING FOREIGN INVESTMENT
Aussie media is reporting that Channel Infrastructure is likely to be buying the local Mobil (ExxonMobil) terminals business.

DOWNWARD PRESSURE
Livestock processors are trimming schedule prices. Not only is lower and less transparent Alliance/Down pricing easing pressures, these buyer are also saying their markets are feeling cost-of-living pressures. That is true from the UK, the US and locally, they say. China is steady for mutton, but lamb prices remain lower than alternatives in other markets so is not favoured. You can see most of the prices for most of the majors from the links in our Rural section.

SWAP RATES STEEPEN
Wholesale swap rates are likely steepened today with short rates dipping and long rates rising. 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 2.55% on Thursday. Today, the Australian 10 year bond yield is up +4 bps at 5.00%. The China 10 year bond rate is unchanged at 1.78%. The Japanese 10 year bond is down -1 bp at 2.41% today. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is now at 4.71%, up +3 bps from yesterday. The RBNZ data is now 'prior day' with the Thursday rate up +1 bp at 4.65%. The UST 10yr yield is up +5 bps at 4.32%.

EQUITIES RISE
The local equity market has fallen -0.5% in Friday trade so far. The ASX200 is down -0.3% in afternoon trade. Tokyo has opened on Friday down -1.0% in its opening trade. Hong Kong down -1.3% and Shanghai has opened down -0.2%. Singapore has also dipped -0.2% at its open. Wall Street ended its Thursday trade up +0.3% for the S&P500 in an up-and-down session.

OIL PRICES RISE
American oil prices have risen +US$1.50 from this time yesterday with the WTI benchmark now at US$93/bbl, while the international Brent price is up +US$3 at just on US$98/bbl.

CARBON MARKET STAYS ACTIVE
There have been more reasonable-sized trades today on the secondary market, and the price has held up in response, now up at $47/NZU and its highest since early March. See our daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.

GOLD DIPS
In early Asian trade, gold is lower at US$4784/oz, down -US$32 from yesterday. Silver is down -US$1.50 at just on US$79/oz.

NZD EASES TO END THE WEEK
The Kiwi dollar is down -40 bps from this time yesterday against the USD, now just on 58.8 USc although almost all of this shift happened last night. Against the Aussie we are down -10 bps at 82.2 AUc. Against the euro we are also down -10 bps at 50 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is now just on 62.2 and down -30 bps from yesterday.

BITCOIN ESSENTIALLY UNCHANGED
The bitcoin price is now at US$74,719 and down -0.4% from this time yesterday. Volatility has been modest at just over +/- 1.5%.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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