Here's our summary of key economic events overnight that affect New Zealand, with news the economic week is ending with a whimper.
In the US, Apple has said it will be closing retail stores, especially in states where the virus is raging still. This is being taken as a signal that the American economic recovery from the virus shutdowns will be weaker than previously assumed.
Wall Street gave up all its morning session gain on the news, and closed down -0.6%, but a +1.9% weekly gain - although all of that happened in one Tuesday morning session.
Canadian retail sales fell much more than expected in April. Of course, a record sharp drop was expected (-15%) but the actual drop was more than -26% month-on-month, and down -32% year-on-year..
China is reporting that electricity usage rose +4.6% in May from the same month a year ago. Electricity usage is often seen as a proxy for how the real Chinese economy is performing.
The Russian central bank cut its policy rate by a full -1% to 4.5% as their economy stumbles though its coronavirus crisis. They are expecting a GDP drop of up to -6% in 2020.
Australia is claiming that "China's government" has escalated "malicious" cyber attacks against Australian businesses and government agencies including critical infrastructure. The claim came from a careful public announcement by their Prime Minister. Although he did not name China, he confirmed it is when answering reporters' questions. Venture capital firms, defense contractors, and the NSW State government have all been hit hard.
Overnight European equity markets rose about +0.5% although London led the way with a +1% rise. For the week the German DAX rose +3.1%, the French CAC rose +0.8% and the London FTSE rose +3.0%.
Yesterday, Shanghai closed up +1.0% for the day and up +1.6% for the week. The weekly gain for Hong Kong was +1.4% and for Tokyo it was +0.8%.
The ASX200 closed yesterday up just +0.1% and for the week it was up +1.6%. The NZX50 Capital Index was up +0.3% yesterday, closing the week up +3.2%.
The latest compilation of COVID-19 data is here. The global tally is now 8,552,700 which is up +152,000 in a day and still a fast rising pace. Global deaths now exceed 457,000. Five people died every minute of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours - that we know of. Brazil is about to crash though 1 mln reported cases, and that is likely to be just the tip of a deadly iceberg.
Japan has decided to ease some restrictions on business travel, starting with allowing in a total of 250 travelers daily from Vietnam and Thailand as early as next month. It also says it has begun negotiations with Australia and New Zealand who are the next two countries it is considering. The US and China are at the back of the Japanese queue.
A quarter of all reported cases globally are in the US, which is up +32,000 since this time yesterday to 2,206,300. That is a rising daily tally and the highest since mid-April. Texas, Florida, California and Arizona are growing hotspots. And there is a sudden spike in Oklahoma that will be worrying officials there because a super-spreader event is happening in Tulsa this weekend. US deaths now exceed 119,000.
In Australia, there have been 7409 cases (+18 since yesterday), 102 deaths (unchanged) and a recovery rate of just over 93% (unchanged). 15 people are in hospital there (+1) with 2 in ICU (unchanged). There are now 427 active cases in Australia (+15).
The UST 10yr yield is little-changed at 0.69%. Their 2-10 curve is flatter at +51 bps. Their 1-5 curve is also holding at +15 bps, while their 3m-10yr curve is also flatter at +57 bps. The Aussie Govt 10yr yield is unchanged after yesterday's sharp fall, still at 0.86%. The China Govt 10yr is also virtually unchanged at 2.90%. But the NZ Govt 10 yr yield has risen +4 bps to just over 0.90%.
The gold price is sharply higher, up +US$18 to US$1,742/oz.
Oil prices are firmer again today, but not by much even though it is a building trend, now just under US$40/bbl in the US. The Brent price is just under US$42/bbl. Despite the talk of bringing more wells into production in the US, their rig count continues its steady shift to new record lows.
The Kiwi dollar is a little softer this morning at 64.1 USc. On the cross rates we are also softer at 93.7 AUc. Against the euro we at 57.3 euro cents. That means our TWI-5 has slipped to 69.1.
The bitcoin price is still in its quiet phase, a nine-day run, down less than -1% to US$9,329 today. The bitcoin rate is charted in the exchange rate set below.
The easiest place to stay up with event risk today is by following our Economic Calendar here ».
Our currency charts are here.
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