A review of things you need to know before you go home on Monday; China exports plunge -15%, Fonterra mulls bond offer, electronic card activity strong, commercial property sales strong, NZD falls

Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today. (Updated with Resimac rate changes.)

TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
Resimac reduced their fixed rates across the board with a strong flattening bias. They reduced their 1 year fixed rate by -4 bps to 5.88%, their 2 year rate by -9 bps to 5.86, their 3 year rate by -14 bps and their five year rate by -34 bps to 6.06%. All these rates are their standard <80% LVR rates. Higher rates apply for other grades.

TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
There were no changes announced today.

CHINA EXPORTS TANK
Data out from China today was a bit of a stunner. In February, China's trade surplus was US$60 bln. It was expected to be lower in March, with most analysts expecting a US$40 bln surplus. But the data released a few minutes ago showed their March trade surplus at just US$3 bln. Yes, just US$3 bln ! The Aussie dollar fell against the US dollar. The New Zealand dollar fell less. As the data is just breaking, analysis is slim, but an unexpectedly large fall in exports was the main reason. We will have more on this later.

FONTERRA NEEDS MONEY
Fonterra says it is looking to borrow NZ$250 bln in new bonds. They are likely to pay lower interest rate than many bank deposits.

CARDS RULE
Core electronic card spending was up in March a very healthy +6.1% year-on-year although that is a lower rate than for January and February. Sales of durable goods were up 5.4% year-on-year. Average transaction values were low however, probably reflecting an even wider use of cards for small transactions. If you use cash these days, you may be in a minority.

BIG DOLLARS FOR BIG PROPERTY
Major commercial property sales surged last year to more than NZ$5 bln with overseas buyers accounting for 57% of transactions priced above $5 million, according to JLL research.

YOUR TAXES AT WORK
Statistics NZ today launched a new online resource can help small businesses identify their customers, markets and competition. We are big users of the Statistics NZ resources and making it easier for any business to use is to be welcomed.

WHOLESALE RATES RISE AGAIN
Wholesale swap rates fell by -2 bps across the whole curve. However, the 90 day bank bill rate rose by +1 bps to 3.64%.

NZ DOLLAR HOLDING
The NZ dollar was basically unchanged today until the China trade news broke. As of late this afternoon it is lower at 74.9 USc, higher at 98.5 AUc, and the TWI is at 80.5.  Check our real-time charts here.

You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.