Here's my summary of the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am, including news the ECB and the Bank of England have both kept their official rates unchanged.
The ECB debated whether to lower their rates, and the British are mulling more radical measures to try and inject some growth into European economies. But in the end both regulators made no change.
In the US the net worth of American families rose by 1.8% at the end of 2012 to the highest level since 2007, as the value of homes and stock portfolios grew - and it will have grown strongly since then.
The number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits unexpectedly declined last week, while the four-week average dropped to a five-year low as the US labour market continued to track improvement. But their trade deficit widened in January.
The Australian trade deficit widened as well, and there are analyst reports the price of iron ore will decline from here after a run-up based on stock replenishment.
At the same time, China is accusing BHP and others of manipulating the iron ore price.
Wall Street has extended its record climb and financial stocks gained ahead of the Fed's 'stress test' reviews which will be released after the close at about 2pm today NZ time.
And finally, a story that even some big well-connected investors can make bad calls and suffer huge losses. John Paulson's US$18 billion hedge fund has seen its gold investments lose 26% so far this year, down 18% in February alone.
The kiwi dollar comes to the end of the week slightly lower against most currencies at 82.6 USc, 80.6 AUc, and the TWI is at 76.0.
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