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A review of things you need to know before you go home on Wednesday; companies pay fast, China confidence ebbs, Fischer on track, mortgage approvals rise, swaps fall, steepen, NZD softer

A review of things you need to know before you go home on Wednesday; companies pay fast, China confidence ebbs, Fischer on track, mortgage approvals rise, swaps fall, steepen, NZD softer

Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.

TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
No changes to report today.

TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
None here either.

FAST PAYERS, GOOD BUSINESS
New Zealand invoice payment times only marginally increased in Q4 2015 after rapid declines throughout the first half of the year to record lows. Dun & Bradstreet’s Trade Payments Analysis shows New Zealand businesses took 35.8 days on average to pay their invoices during the December quarter. Regionally, that is 37.3 days average in Auckland, 37.5 days in Wellington, and just 35.7 days in Christchurch.

LOWEST SINCE OCTOBER
Following three consecutive monthly increases, the Westpac MNI China Consumer Sentiment Indicator fell back to the lowest level since October, as household finances and the outlook for spending deteriorated. Four of the five components that contribute to the Westpac MNI China CSI fell between January and February, resulting in a 3.1% drop in headline sentiment to 111.3 from 114.9 previously.

STILL ON TRACK
According to the US Federal Reserve vice-chairman Stanley Fischer, it is still unclear whether the recent downturn in global financial markets will have any substantial impact on the American economy, suggesting the current global wobbles may still pass without much effect on the Fed's plans to 'normalise' their benchmark interest rate. These comments saw the US dollar strengthen mid afternoon, pushing down the NZD.

MORTGAGE APPROVALS
Last week, the RBNZ reported that approval volumes and values reached their highest level since before Christmas. 6,720 approvals were granted last week valued at $1.43 bln which is up +11.3% year-on-year. But the volume gains are up less than +5% year-on-year.

WORK DOWN, PAY UP ACROSS THE DITCH
In Australia, data released today showed that construction completed in the December quarter fell. Engineering work was the big loser. Meanwhile other data released showed that Aussie wages rose +2.1% in 2015, +2.5% higher in the public sector, but only +2.0% up in the private sector. (NZ wages rose +2.5% in the same period.)

MIXED MARKET SIGNALS
The NZX50 and the Shanghai stock market are both higher today, about +0.5%, while the ASX200 and the Nikkei250 are both down, around -1%. Hong Kong is down slightly less.

WHOLESALE RATES LOWER
NZ swap rates are lower today and steeper with the short rates down by as much a -3 bps while the long end is only down by -1 bp. By our monitoring, that puts all rates 3 to 10 years touching their all-time lowest levels since we began monitoring them in 2007. It is likely these are all-time record low levels. The 90-day bank bill rate is also down, to 2.58%, a -2 bps fall.

NZ DOLLAR RANGES
The Kiwi dollar rose, then fell following Stanley Fischer's Fed comments. It is now at 66.2 USc, and at 92 AUc. The TWI-5 is now at 70.9. Check our real-time charts here.

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Daily exchange rates

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Daily benchmark rate
Source: RBNZ
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Source: RBNZ
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Source: RBNZ
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Source: RBNZ
End of day UTC
Source: CoinDesk

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2 Comments

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So Meridian have just informed me they are putting up power prices, so less in my wallet so less to spend on other things...

Tell me how this is inflationary?

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