A review of things you need to know before you sign off on Wednesday; Westpac changes retail rates, concrete production rises, dairy prices rise, sharp drop in Aussie home loan commitments, carbon price firms, swaps rise, NZD soft, & 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
Westpac has announced fixed home loan rate changes, details here. 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
Westpac has cut 3, 4 & 5 year TD rates. Details here. All updated term deposit rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.

A SLOWER, STEADY POUR
Ready-mixed concrete delivered is rising again, even if it is only back at pre-GFC levels (really). 993,000 m3 were delivered in the September quarter, +7.2% more than the same quarter a year earlier. (In June 2006 995,000 m3 were delivered.) In Auckland, the rise was +10.9% more was delivered (293,000 m3), in Wellington it rose +10.5% (44,000 m3) and in Christchurch it fell slightly, -0.4% (125,500 m3). That all means in the year to September 3,837,000 m3 of concrete was poured, up +5.4% from the equivalent 2025 year. For reference, the most ready-mixed concrete ever delivered was the almost 4.8 mln m3 in the year to September 2022 and during the peak of the Christchurch rebuild.

FIRMER PRICES
There was a Pulse dairy auction overnight that was relatively positive in USD terms, more so in NZD terms. Of note, the dominant WMP price rose +2.2% from the prior week's full auction and is back over US$4000/tonne for the first time since July 2025.

THE RISE OF SINGLE PERSON HOUSEHOLDS
Almost a quarter of all households (23%) with just be just one person in a generation (by 2048), according to data released by Stats NZ today. It is currently less than one in six.) Also, they say the number of households is projected to increase from an estimated 1.90 million to 2.47 million, an average increase of +1.1% pa compared with average population growth of +0.9% pa. On average, the size of households is projected to reduce slightly from 2.69 to 2.60 people over the same period.

NZX50 HOLDS
As at 3pm, the overall NZX50 index was down a minor -0.1% today. From a week ago it is now up +2.7%. From six months ago it is up +7.1%. From a year ago it is up +4.0% now. Market heavyweight F&P Healthcare has fallen -0.7% so far today.  There are 42 gainers led by Gentrack, Scales, Kathmandu, and Napier Port. There are 34 decliners led by Goodman Property, SkyCity casino, Precinct Fletcher and Vital Healthcare.

AUSSIE HOUSING INVESTORS RUN FOR THE HILLS
Australian lending data for the September quarter delivered strong evidence of their real estate market showdown. The number of lending commitments to owner-occupiers were down -9.8% from a year ago, but within that lending to FHBs was down a very chunky -9.8%. But that is 'nothing' compared to how fast lending to investors is falling, with the number of loan commitments down -30.6% in September from June, down -38.5% from a year ago. Loan values declined at similar paces. These are the largest falls on record.

SWAP RATES RISE
Wholesale swap rates have probably risen today on global pressures. Keep an eye on our chart below which will record the final positions closer to 5pm. The RBNZ 90 day rate was up +3 bps at 3.15% on Tuesday. Today, the Australian 10 year bond yield is up +6 bps at 5.05% from this this time yesterday. The China 10 year bond rate is now at just over 1.58% and little-changed. The Japanese 10 year bond is up +10 bps at 2.77%. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is now at 4.78% and up +4 bps from yesterday at this time. (The RBNZ 10 year rate is 'prior day' and was down -5 bps at 4.71% on Tuesday.) And the UST 10yr yield is now at just under 5.01% and up a sharp +13 bps from this time yesterday.

EQUITIES MIXED
The NZX50 has fallen -0.2% so far today. The ASX200 has opened unchanged. Tokyo is up +1.2%. The KOSPI is up +1.3% at its open. Hong Kong is down -0.8% in early Wednesday trade while Shanghai is down -0.1%. Singapore is up +0.2% in early Wednesday trade. Wall Street was softer in Tuesday trade with the S&P50 ending down -0.4% and the Nasdaq fell -0.7%.

OIL PRICE HOLDS
American oil prices have formed slightly, up +50 USc from yesterday at this time with the WTI benchmark now at just on US$86.50/bbl, while the international Brent price is little-changed at just under US$92/bbl.

CARBON PRICE FIRMS
There have again been only small trades reported today so far, but the price is up +$2 at $50/NZU. See our daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.

GOLD LOWER
In early Asian trade, gold has retreated -US$88 from this time yesterday, now at US$4046/oz. Silver is down -US$1 at just under US$52.50/oz.

NZD SOFT
The Kiwi dollar is down -30 bps from yesterday at just on 56.1 USc. Against the Aussie we up +10 bps at just under 81.5 AUc. Against the euro we are unchanged at 50.2 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is now just over 60 and down -20 bps from this morning.

BITCOIN DROPS
The bitcoin price is now at US$73,550 and down -2.0% from this time yesterday. Volatility has been modest at just over +/- 1.5%.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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