Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.
MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
Heartland Bank cut its reverse mortgage rate to 6.20%.
TERM DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
The NZCU Baywide group all cut their term deposit rates, and their at-call rates. ASB cut is bonus saver, now at just 0.50%. Bank of Baroda cut their TD rates. First CU cut its at-call rates. SBS Bank has also cut its term deposit rates.
SUDDENLY IT'S A BUYERS MARKET ...
June listings on Realestate.co.nz were up +20% compared to June last year while asking prices were sliding.
... AND MORE HOUSING SUPPLY COMING
Consents for 3554 new homes were issued in May 2020, the highest number since May 2019. (But in Australia, these same approvals fell sharply, led down by a collapse in apartment consents.)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT BORROWING CAPACITY INCREASED
Shareholders in the Local Government Funding Agency have approved changes to increase the amount local authorities can borrow. Currently, local authority borrowers with a long-term credit rating of 'A' equivalent or higher are required to maintain net debt/total revenue below 250%. For the June 2021 and 2022 years this has been increased to 300%. For the four years after that there'll be 5% decreases with a limit of 280% applying from the June 2026 year.
KIWIBANK CEO NEW CHAIRMAN OF NZBA
Kiwibank CEO Steve Jurkovich has been elected chairman of bank lobby group the New Zealand Bankers’ Association, taking up the role for a two-year term from today, July 1. It's the first time Kiwibank has chaired NZBA. ASB's CEO Vittoria Shortt is the new deputy. Westpac CEO David McLean chaired NZBA for the past three years.
AUSSIE HOUSE PRICES SLIP
Falling house prices are not just a New Zealand story. In Australia, property values have dropped for a second month in a row and picked up in pace as uncertainty builds about the financial plunge expected in September.
HUGE WRITEDOWN
Royal Dutch Shell has written down the value of its oil reserve assets by NZ$34 bln because of lower prices and there may be more to come. They are following BP. Both are reacting to the shift to renewals. But so far Exxon Mobil has resisted pressure to take a similar writedown.
EQUITY MARKET UPDATES
The S&P500 ended its Wall Street session up another +1.5% with a late surge. Shanghai has opened up +0.9%. Hong Kong has opened up +0.5%. Tokyo has opened up +0.2%. The ASX200 is up +0.7% in early afternoon. The NZX50 Capital Index is down -0.5%, principally because F&P Healthcare has corrected lower.
SWAP RATES UPDATE
Swap rates were probably little-changed at the short end, firmer at the long end today. We don't have final wholesale swap rates movement details yet but we will update this later in the day if they show a significant movement. The 90-day bank bill rate is unchanged at 0.30%. The Aussie Govt 10yr is up +5 bps at 0.92%. The China Govt 10yr is down -5 bps at 2.88%. The NZ Govt 10yr yield is up +3 bps at 0.93%. The UST 10yr is up +5 bps at 0.68%.
NZ DOLLAR FIRM
The Kiwi dollar is nearly +½c firmer since this time yesterday, now at 64.6 USc. Against the Aussie we are also firmish at 93.5 AUc. Against the euro we are up at 57.5 euro cents. And that means the TWI-5 is now up over 69.5.
BITCOIN SOFT
The price of Bitcoin is marginally softer from this morning, now at US$9,118. The bitcoin price is charted in the currency set below.
This soil moisture chart is animated here.
The easiest place to stay up with event risk today is by following our Economic Calendar here ».
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