Here's my summary of the key events overnight that affect New Zealand, with news the Greek Prime Minister has resigned.
Alexis Tsipras has quit, hoping to strengthen his hold on power by winning a snap election on September 20th. He says he hasn't been able to deliver on what he promised when he was elected in January, so will let the public have their say on who they want to lead them. His call deepens political uncertainty on the day Greece began receiving funds under its 86 billion-euro bailout program with foreign creditors.
Yet a snap election should allow Tsipras to capitalise on his popularity with Greek voters before the toughest parts of the program begin to bite, and may allow him to return to power in a stronger position without anti-bailout rebels to slow him down.
US house sales have risen in July to their highest level since the 2007 boom. The National Association of Realtors says home sales steadily increased for their third month in a row.
While demand for housing is being boosted by a strengthening labour market, supply remains tight. This has seen the median house price rise 5.6% over the year, to US$234,000. It's also seen first-home buyers side-lined, with their share of sales falling to a six-month low.
The International Monetary Fund has decided China's yuan won't be included in its basket of reserve currencies for at least a year. The IMF will make a call on whether it'll include the yuan in its basket of elite currencies later this year. However any move won't take effect until September next year - a nine month delay.
In New York, the UST 10yr yield benchmark is lower today at 2.10%.
The oil price remains deep in its slump at US$41/barrel, with Brent crude at US$47/barrel. An auction for drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday attracted the lowest interest from producers in nearly 30 years.
Bloomberg has also found commodity producers have lost almost as much value in the past year as India’s entire economy. Slumping prices have wiped out over US$2 trillion of mining and oil company shares since the middle of last year.
The gold price is up US$23 today to US$1,153/oz.
The New Zealand dollar hasn't budged much against the US overnight, sitting at 66.3 US¢. It's inched up a half a cent to 90.3 AU¢, and is down to 59.2 euro cents. The TWI-5 remains at 70.7.
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 today is by following our Economic Calendar here »
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