Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.
TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
Kiwibank reduced their 3, 4 and five year fixed rates today, and the 4 and 5 year rates will be best-in-the-market. And ANZ got back in the cash-incentive ring with a $2,000 offer for new loans of $250,000 and over. Kiwibank's latest offer is a $2,500 voucher at Freedom Furniture.
TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
There were no changes today.
CREDIT UNION MERGER
Hamilton-based First Credit Union is to take over NZCU Rotorua, it was announced today. NZCU's 4,800 members will take First Credit Union to over 54,000 members with assets of $270 million.
NATIONAL PROMISES ACC LEVY CUTS
The election offer is to reduce ACC levies by between $700 million and $900 million, starting 1 April 2016 over and above what has already been committed. "This is the equivalent of a tax cut for households and businesses," they say.
FOOD DOWN, NON-FOOD UP
Today's manufacturing data from Statistics NZ was weak for Q2, but almost all of that was because of depressed food production. Non-food manufacturing is powering ahead, but not enough to overcome lower dairy and meat production, so the overall survey was weaker that was expected.
TRANSMISSION GULLY UNDERWAY
The first sod was turned on this Wellington project today. It will be a 27 kilometer four-lane highway, and the first roading Public Private Partnership (PPP) in New Zealand’s history.
JAPAN HAS A TOUGH DAY
Data out of Japan wasn't very encouraging today. The Q2 GDP number came in worse than first estimated and a year-on-year decline of -7.1%. Their current account surplus was smaller than expected, their trade deficit larger than expected. Consumer spending fell more than expected. All in all a down day for Japan. But Q2 was when the sales tax rise hangover happened, so lets hope this is now behind them.
CHINA TRADE SURPRISINGLY STRONG
China's August exports were higher than expected and their imports were lower. That gave them a trade surplus 25% higher than markets were expecting at US$50 bln for the month. A recovering US drove the trade. The result is likely to put upward pressure on the yuan.
ON THE MEND?
Job advertising in Australia is surprisingly strong in August, rising 1.5% m/m to be up 8% over the year to date. This suggests conditions in their labour market are improving slowly.
WHOLESALE RATES
Swap rates fell -1 bp today across the whole curve. The 90 day bank bill rate was also down -1 bp to 3.69%.
OUR CURRENCY
Check our real-time charts here. The NZ dollar had a small flutter upwards in the middle of the day today but has settle back to levels we started out at this morning. We are at 83.2 USc, now at 88.8 AUc and the TWI is just under 79.0.
You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.
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