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US consumer confidence rising; Greece's plan rejected, looks to Russia; China gets deposit insurance; RBA pressured to cut; bonds, oil and gold unchanged; NZ$1 = 74.7 US¢, TWI = 80

US consumer confidence rising; Greece's plan rejected, looks to Russia; China gets deposit insurance; RBA pressured to cut; bonds, oil and gold unchanged; NZ$1 = 74.7 US¢, TWI = 80

Here's my summary of the key issues from over night that affect New Zealand, with news of pressure on central banks, to hike in the US, to cut in Australia.

American consumer confidence rose strongly in March amid optimism over the labour market while house prices increased in January, hopeful signs that a recent sharp slowdown in economic activity was probably a blip.

The Federal Reserve will have a "strong" case to hike interest rates in June, a hawkish Fed official said overnight, dismissing recently weak economic data as transitory and perhaps due to unseasonable weather.

Across the Atlantic, officials said overnight that Greece failed to reach an initial deal with the European Union and the IMF to unlock aid after the creditors dismissed a package of reforms from Athens as ideas rather than a concrete plan. Greece may now look to Russia to fund it's government debt.

The Greek banking system continues its rough ride with another US$3 bln in deposit outflows in March.

And China has announced it will start its new bank deposit insurance scheme in May. Under the new system, the government will insure deposits to a maximum of 500,000 yuan (NZ$108,000) for each client's deposits at each bank. When that is in place, they will deregulate Chinese deposit interest rates.

Also China-related, the RBA which will review its policy rate again on Tuesday is under increasing pressure to cut as iron ore, the country's biggest export, plunges to a decade low.

In New York, the UST 10yr yields were basically unchanged overnight at 1.94%. However New Zealand swap rates took a -3 to -4 bps fall for terms to 5 years late yesterday.

The crude oil price is unchanged at US$48/barrel and Brent crude is at $56 a barrel. 

The gold price fell slightly to US$1,183/oz.

The New Zealand dollar will start today lower against the greenback at 74.7 US¢, still very high against the Aussie at 98.1 AU¢, and the TWI is at 80.

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

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

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Source: CoinDesk

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4 Comments

No pressure on RBNZ. 

NZ committed to high dollar, high interest rates. 

No risk of housing bubble bursting due to foreign buyers keeping prices high. 

 

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Making money has never been easier. Enjoy it lads. Enjoy it.

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"No risk of housing bubble bursting due to foreign buyers keeping prices high. "

 

Ponies all 'round!

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Has anyone else heard the rumours about Janet Yellen planning to undergo gender reassignment surgery sometime in June?

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