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90 seconds at 9 am: Taper talk swells; Dow falls; BofE links jobless level to monetary policy; Fonterra gets tiny fine; NZ$1 = US$0.796 TWI = 75.0

90 seconds at 9 am: Taper talk swells; Dow falls; BofE links jobless level to monetary policy; Fonterra gets tiny fine; NZ$1 = US$0.796 TWI = 75.0

Here's my summary of the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am, including news of another stumble for Fonterra.

But first, there has been more periphery Fed taper talk with the Cleveland Fed's Sandra Pianalto also now saying the bond buying program could be reduced soon.

It is becoming a real chorus after three other Fed officials made similar comments earlier this week and the markets are not missing the message.

The Dow is slipping, oil is down to US$104/bbl, and gold remains below US$1,300/oz.

A very big US Treasury 10 yr debt auction overnight saw yields slightly lower at 2.62%, but the bid:cover ratio of 2.5 was the lowest since 2009.

In Britain, the Bank of England has now tied the rolling back of its easy monetary policies to the level of British unemployment, in a move mirroring the US Fed.

They say they won't start to shift policy settings until unemployment there improves to below 7% and markets don't expect that until 2016.

Fonterra has been fined NZ$0.9m mln in China for its part in holding prices for its products higher than the authorities there thought they should be. China levied fines totaling NZ$137 mln for six companies, with Mead Johnson paying the most at almost NZ$42 mln. Fonterra's penalty was tiny compared with the other five.

The NZ dollar's recovery rolls on at 79.6 USc, 88.5 AUc, and the TWI is at 75.0.

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