90 seconds at 9 am: Sales of new US houses surge; Bond yields fall; Yuan falls as settings change; British tighten up on foreign banks; NZ$1 = US$0.829 TWI = 78.0

Here's my summary of the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am, including news of some surprise US data that has moved markets overnight.

Purchases of new houses in the US unexpectedly climbed in January to their highest level in more than five years, showing underlying strength in the American housing industry even in the midst of unusually harsh weather.

Data from the Commerce Dept showed sales of new single-family houses in January 2014 were at a annual rate of 468,000. This is 9.6% above the revised December 2013 number and 2.2% above the same month a year ago. Sales of new houses in the South and West - the South especially - are really impressive.

The median price of a new US house is now US$260,100 (NZ$313,400).

This data surprised and impressed markets. Equities rose again, as did the oil price. Gold fell sharply to US$1,325/oz. And the US dollar raced higher.

But bond yields fell. The benchmark US Treasury 10 yr bond is now at 2.69% this morning.

The Chinese currency slid for a seventh day yesterday, sparking speculation that their central bank aims to end the nearly decade-long trend of steady appreciation. More likely they are engineering the easing to lower expectations of 'certain' appreciation as they move to a more market-based rate. The transition could be rocky though.

In Britain, their central bank is proposing tougher rules for non-EU bank branches, especially those who want to take deposits. Locally incorporated subsidiaries won't be affected however.

Here at home today we get important data on the January trade balance and the level of migration, as well as an RBNZ update on how its LVR policy is working. There is also a Government bond tender, something that is becoming increasingly rare.

The NZ dollar fell to under 83 USc through all this and that will give the RBNZ some headroom to raise the OCR in two weeks if the lower US dollar level holds. We start today again at 82.9 USc, 92.5 AUc and the TWI is at 78.0.

If you want to catch up with all the changes yesterday, we have an update here.

The easiest place to stay up with today's event risk is by following our Economic Calendar here »