David Chaston details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am in association with Bank of New Zealand, including news that European stocks, and the euro currency fell overnight as concern built that their debt crisis is poised to widen.
At 0.5892 to the NZ dollar, the euro is hovering at its weakest level ever.
The German government is having to re-assess its opposition to increasing the European trillion dollar rescue fund, and it looks like it is waivering. Worries in Belgium are the latest trigger, and the pressure is being piled on by the ECB.
Despite these European bond problems, overall world distress levels in bonds are at their lowest levels in three years. In fact, the big Wall Steet banks are selling Treasuries in record volumes and shifting into commercial bonds as growth prospects improve.
Even Iceland, a complete basket case two years ago, is about to get back into the bond market, and has reasonable prospects. A real lesson for those countries tied up in the euro straightjacket, about the benefits of an independent floating currency.
In New Zealand, slightly better than expected numbers have been reported for Christmas retail sales. And new car and used import sales were stronger in December than many expected.
Pacific Blue’s troubles in the NZ market have been widely reported, and their $20 mil loss was the catalyst for them pulling out of domestic service. Now we hear Qantas’s NZ revenues fell 22% in their 2010 accounts, and profits were well down. But despite this, their head office is raiding their kiwi finances, declaring a $90 million dividend – that’s more than a year’s revenues for them here.
Today, we will be covering the release of building consent data for November, and the important announcement from the NZIER of their quarterly survey of business opinion (QSBO).
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