Here's my summary of the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am, including news of shrinking Aussie consumer confidence.
But first, the big news today is the 38 billion m3, US$400 billion deal China and Russia have signed for natural gas over 10 years. The price is much less than what Russia was reported to be seeking but it caps a 10 year negotiation and comes at a key time for Russia.
However, even though it is a huge long-term deal, it seems to be at a 30% discount to current market prices. China was also seeking equity stakes in the Gazprom gas fields but it is not sure how this aspect was agreed. Most of the gas will come from eastern Russian gas fields which don't have an easy alternate market.
In the US, and hard on the heels of the huge fine on Swiss bank Credit Suisse that investors and the bank essentially shrugged off as 'not material', US regulators are seeking a much stiffer penalty on BNP Paribas.
They now want more than $5 billion in fines and a guilty plea to criminal charges for violating US sanctions from the French-based bank. In addition, a temporary ban on transferring money into and out of the US is also being considered. A penalty like that might actually hurt.
In Australia, two separate surveys of consumer confidence out yesterday have been pessimistic. The ANZ-Roy Morgan survey reported a big drop, and the Westpac-MI survey had a similar reading. The next consumer confidence survey for New Zealand is out later today.
Yields on benchmark UST 10 yr bonds rose to 2.54% in trade today. The oil price rose especially in the US while the gold price fell. Equities had recovered most of yesterday's decline by late afternoon trading.
On the exchange rate, we start today with the NZ dollar lower at 85.5 USc, at 92.8 AUc and the TWI is now at 79.8.
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 »
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