A review of things you need to know before you sign off on Wednesday; concrete gains, dairy prices firmish, ASB profit falls; Suncorp profit falls, FMA's Barrass draws a second look; swaps stable, NZX soft, NZD dips, & 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. All current mortgage rates are here. And note, you can compare mortgage offers with our unique calculator that takes into account other costs and cashback incentives, here.

TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
None here either. All updated term deposit rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.

A STRONG UP-TURN SIGN
More than 1 mln m3 of ready-mixed concrete was delivered in the June quarter, the first time that has happened in any quarter since 2023. And the turn higher was dramatic with more than a +15% increase from the March quarter, and a +12% increase from the same quarter in 2025. The three main metropolitan centers used 45% of that, with Auckland up +6.1% from a year ago and up +13% from the March quarter. Wellington was more restrained, down -2.2% from a year ago. But Christchurch was up +21% on the same basis, up +10% from March. Away from these three, Waikato/BOP was up +12% from a year ago, Otago/Southland up +20%.

FIRMING PRICES
The overnight dairy Pulse auction brought a stabilisation in prices with the powders rising about +2% and the milk fats little-changed from last week's full dairy auction. In NZD terms, the powders were up a bit more than that.

NZX50 RETREATS
As at 3pm, the overall NZX50 index was down -0.5% today, and down -1.5% for the past 5 trading sessions. It is up +1.9% from six months ago. From a year ago it is now up +8.1%. Market heavyweight F&P Healthcare is down -0.9% so far today. The main gainers today are Gentrack, Tourism Holdings, Air NZ and SkyCity casino. The main decliners have been Scales, Napier Port, Mainfreight and Oceania.

ASB ADJUSTS AFTER AML FUMBLES
ASB's annual profit fell -4% in the year to June as the bank 'embarks on program of work to streamline practices to create better outcomes for customers'.

STORMS & A SOFT MARKET TAKE A TOLL
Weak commercial market and 'elevated' natural hazard events drives Suncorp NZ’s annual profit down by a quarter, falling -$103 mln to $316 mln in the year to June 2026. Suncorp's local brands are Vero and AA Insurance. In their review, they flagged risks to come from El Nino and climate change.

A SEPARATE BUT PARALLEL REVIEW
The FMA Board has commissioned an independent employment investigation concerning matters relating to FMA Chief Executive, Samantha Barrass. Paul Wicks KC has been appointed as the independent investigator for the board. This investigation is separate from the conduct and culture review being undertaken by MBIE.

JAPANESE BUSINESS IN A GOOD MOOD
In Japan, the Reuters Tankan index for manufacturers rose in August to its highest reading since March. Leading the mood improvement was solid semiconductor demand. But the chemicals also rose along with the metal and machinery sector. Non-manufacturers' sentiment also rose, buoyed by strong domestic consumption. This survey likely points to a similar rise in the official Tankan survey that will come later in August.

SWAP RATES HOLD
Wholesale swap rates will likely be little-changed again today. Keep an eye on our chart below which will record the final positions closer to 5pm. The 90 day bank bill rate was unchanged at 2.95% on Tuesday. Today, the Australian 10 year bond yield has dopped -1 bp to 5.00%. The China 10 year bond rate is holding at 1.70%. The Japanese 10 year bond is now at 2.85% today and up +5 bps and back near its 30 year highs. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is now at 4.72% and little-changed. (The RBNZ data is now 'prior day' with the Monday rate up +2 bps at 4.69%.) But the UST 10yr yield is down -4 bps at 4.68%.

EQUITIES MOSTLY LOWER
The NZX50 is now down -0.5%. The ASX200 has opened its Wednesday trade down -0.6%. Tokyo has opened little-changed (+0.1%). Hong Kong has opened down -1.1% but Shanghai is up +0.2% at its open. Singapore is down -0.5% in early Wednesday trade today. Wall Street ended its Tuesday trade with the S&P500 down -0.3% ended, and the Nasdaq down -0.6%.

OIL PRICES RISE AGAIN
American oil prices have risen +US$1.50 from this time yesterday with the WTI benchmark is now just on US$84/bbl, while the international Brent price is just under US$89.50/bbl and also up +US$1.50.

CARBON PRICE FIRMISH ON LOW ACTIVITY
There have been very few trades again today and the price is moving back towards $55/NZU. See our daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.

GOLD ON HOLD
In early Asian trade, gold is little-changed, dipping just -US$2/oz from this time yesterday, now at US$4411/oz. Silver is down -50 USc at just under US$65.50/oz.

NZD DIPS
The Kiwi dollar is down -10 bps against the USD from yesterday at this time, still just on 58.7 USc. Against the Aussie we are down -20 to 83.2 AUc. Against the euro we are down -10 bps at 50.9 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is now just under 62.4 and down -10 bps.

BITCOIN HOLDS SOFT
The bitcoin price is now at US$63,693 and down -0.5% from this time yesterday. Volatility has been modest at just on +/- 1.0%.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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