A review of things you need to know before you sign off on Tuesday; family friendly migrant mix, Kāinga Ora claims progress, NAB's cutbacks exclude NZ, India FTA effective, swaps firm, NZX dips again, NZD firm, & 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
No updates to report here either today. But this review of term PIE options may be useful. All updated term deposit rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.

'FAMILY FRIENDLY'
September data shows that children and older people are making up an increasing share of migrants. Those aged up to 19 years and people aged 50-plus made up almost 40% of residence visa approvals in the September year

EFFICIENCY DELIVERED
Kāinga Ora's annual report is out, claiming some impressive improvements both as a developer of community housing and as a landlord of their 78,300 housing stock.

NZX50 DIPS AGAIN
As at 3pm, the overall NZX50 index is down -0.3% today. From a week ago it is down -1.0%. But from six months ago it is up +5.4%. From a year ago it is up +1.8% now. Market heavyweight F&P Healthcare is up +0.5% so far today. Gains are led today by Gentrack, Oceania, Heartland and Vital Healthcare. Declines are led by Channel Infrastructure, Scales, Meridian and Skellerup.

BANKING DIETs
In Australia, major bank NAB said it will be cutting 2500 jobs from its 42,000 workforce in a 'simplification' drive. BNZ says this only applies to NAB's Aussie workforce, not New Zealand. (You may recall that earlier, ANZ announced plans to shed 3500 jobs in September, a handful in New Zealand. And Westpac Group drip-fed job cuts in March, May and October, but they amount to less than 1000, also a few locally.)

INDIA FTA BECOMES EFFECTIVE
The free trade deal between New Zealand and India is now active. From today, 57% of our exports to India are tariff-free. That rises to 82% over time. In total, 95% of current exports will have tariffs removed or cut. Key outcomes from today include tariffs removed on sheep meat, wool and coal, tariffs removed on more than 95% of forestry and wood exports, and a preferential quota access for apples, kiwifruit and milk albumins. A second round of tariff cuts follows on 1 January 2027.

NO RATE CHANGE IN CHINA
As expected, the October Prime Loan Rate review in China has resulted in no changes. These two rates remain at record lows.

SWAP RATES HIGHER
Wholesale swap rates will likely be firmer today by about +3 bps. Keep an eye on our chart below which will record the final positions closer to 5pm. The RBNZ 90 day rate was up +4 bps to 3.30% on Monday. Today, the Australian 10 year bond yield is up +3 bps at 5.27%. The China 10 year bond rate is now at 1.63% and down -2 bps. The Japanese 10 year bond is now at 2.91% and up +1 bp. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is now at 5.09% and up +5 bps from yesterday. (The RBNZ 10 year rate is 'prior day' and was up +1 bp at 5.01% on Monday.) And the UST 10yr yield is now at 5.13% and up +7 bps from this time yesterday.

EQUITIES MOSTLY EASE
The NZX50 has softened another -0.3% so far today. But the ASX200 has opened down -0.7%. Tokyo is down -0.9%. The KOSPI is down -3.2% at its open. Hong Kong is down -1.1% in early Tuesday trade while Shanghai down -0.3%. Singapore is also down -0.3% in early Tuesday trade. Wall Street ended its Monday session on a firmer note with the S&P500 up +0.4 and the Nasdaq up +1.1%.

OIL MIXED
American oil prices have eased -US$2 from yesterday with the WTI benchmark now at just over US$98.50/bbl, while the international Brent price is just under US$109.50/bbl but up +US$1.50.

CARBON PRICE UNCHANGED
There have been no trades reported today so the price is unchanged, still at $50/NZU. See our daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.

GOLD SLIPS
In early Asian trade, gold has slipped, down -US$47/oz from yesterday, now at US$4132/oz. Silver is down -50 USc at US$57/oz.

NZD FIRM
The Kiwi dollar is up almost +20 bps from yesterday at just under 56.7 USc. Against the Aussie we are up +10 bps at just under 81.2 AUc. Against the euro we are up +20 bps at 50.5 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is now just under 60.5 and up +20 bps.

BITCOIN AMBLES ALONG
The bitcoin price is now at US$81,689 and down -1.0% from this time yesterday. Volatility has remained modest at just over +/- 1.1%.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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