A review of things you need to know before you go home on Friday; Barfoot had a good lockdown August, DDoS scare, household wealth rises fast, swaps stable, NZD firmer, & more

Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
None to report today.

TERM DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
No changes here either. Update: SBS Bank has launched a market-leading 1.45% TD rate for terms between 6 and 9 months.

DOWN BUT NOT OUT
Auckland realtor Barfoot & Thompson's sales were well down in August, but not nearly as much as during the Level 4 lockdown in April last year. They sold 1020 properties in the Queen City, with the average price lower than in July, and the median price higher.

A DDoS SCARE
Various institutions were having web access issues today, including Kiwibank and The Treasury. A DDoS attack through the Vocus network was the likely issue. When large events like this one happen, they can have economic consequences if they last. This one didn't, fortunately.

FULLY SUBSCRIBED
Oceania Healthcare (OCA, #32) got the full $100 mln in its seven year secured fixed rate bonds. The yield will be 3.30% pa, reflecting a margin of 1.45% per annum over the underlying swap rate.

MINOR LEVERAGE OVERALL
In their release of its household balance sheet data today (C22), the RBNZ reported that the proportion of equity in owner occupied housing and land is at an all-time high of 80.3%. Household equity in housing and land is also at an all time high of $919 bln as at March 2021. The value of all housing at that date was $1.513 tln (M10) of which $369.1 bln was in rental stock owned by investors. These values have risen +23% in a year.

KEEPING UP
As at June 2021, they report new household financial wealth (excluding real estate) topped $1.16 tln and up +22% in a year. It is interesting that the financial wealth is growing at the same rate as housing - and more interesting because you grow your financial wealth on an after-tax basis, whereas the gains from real estate escape any tax.

SHRINKING
Australian retail sales retreated -2.9% in July from the same month in 2020, sucked lower by the NSW lockdown. June's results were also negative, dropped by Victoria's lockdown.

COMMODITY ROLLERCOASTER
The iron ore price is ending this week at roughly the same level it was at the end of the past two week - sharply lower that its peal seven weeks ago, but not falling any more. It is back at 2014 levels, although in between it fell -70% (in late 2015) and rose +60% in (mid 2021).

GOING BACKWARDS
In China, the private Caixin PMI for their services sector was very weak, contracting at a faster rate. It's now at a 20 month low. New order levels retreated. This is lower than the official version which also signaled a sharp retreat, confirming not only a loss of momentum, but an outright contraction in their service economy.

PANDEMIC PRESSURE STILL INTENSE
In Australia, there were another 1431 new community cases in NSW today with another 1250 not assigned to known clusters, so they remain completely out of control. They now have 21,239 locally acquired cases. Victoria is reporting another 176 new cases today, so it is bad there too. Queensland is now reporting zero new cases. The ACT has 18 new cases. Overall in Australia, more than 36% of eligible Aussies are fully vaccinated, plus 25% have now had one shot so far. There were four new cases in New Zealand at the border, and 28 more in the community, all in Auckland. So far, 29% of eligible Kiwis now have both shots, another 27% the initial shot.

GOLD STABLE
Compared to where we were yesterday, the gold price is unchanged again at US$1813/oz in early Asian trade, after finishing at US$1810/oz in New York and US$1813 in the afternoon London fix.

EQUITIES RISE
The NZX50 is up +0.2% in late trade and looks like it will close with a very good +1.9% weekly rise. The ASX200 is up +0.5% in early afternoon trade and that might be the only weekly gain. Tokyo has opened also up +0.5% today and heading for a stellar +2.9% weekly gain. Hong Kong has opened -0.3% lower in very early trade. If that holds, it will be up +2.4% for the week. Shanghai is up +0.1% in today's early trade, and if that holds the weekly gain will be +1.9%. Earlier the S&P500 closed up +0.3% in their Wall Street Thursday session after sinking mid-session.

SWAP & BONDS RATES ON HOLD
We don't have today's closing swap rates yet. They have probably changed little. We will update this if there are significant changes when the end-of-day data comes through. The 90 day bank bill rate is down -1 bp at 0.48%. The Australian Govt ten year benchmark rate is now at 1.21% and unchanged. The China Govt 10yr is now at 2.85% and also unchanged. The New Zealand Govt 10 year rate is now at 1.85%, up +3 bps and still above the earlier RBNZ fix for that rate at 1.82% (+1 bp). The US Govt ten year is now at 1.29% down -1 bp from this time yesterday.

NZ DOLLAR FIRMER
The Kiwi dollar is now at 71.1 USc, and up +½c since this time yesterday. Against the Aussie we are firm at 96.1 AUc as the Aussie firms. Against the euro we are also firm at 59.9 euro cents. The TWI-5 is up at 74 and at the upper end of the 72-74 range we have been in for most of the past ten months.

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BITCOIN DOWN
The bitcoin price is now at US$48,610 and down -2.1% from this time yesterday. Volatility in the past 24 hours has been moderate at +/- 2.1%.

This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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