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
Nothing here today either.
STRONG DEMAND I
The country gained a record 67,619 new residents in the year to March, driven by jump in new arrivals and a drop in people leaving. The biggest source countries for people migrating to NZ, whether they were new migrants or returning NZ citizens, were Australia with 25,767 people arriving in the last 12 months, followed by India 13,486 which was almost level pegging with the UK 13,445, followed by China and Hong Kong 12,743, the Philippines 5,476, the US 4,326 and Germany 4,033.
STRONG DEMAND II
Latest Government bond nominal tender of $150 mln 2020s saw strong demand, again, with oversubscription at 4 times. The average weighted accepted yield fell again, now 2.20% from the previous 2.26%. In November 2015 it was 2.9%.
FLAT DEMAND
Trade Me Property says housing rents have plateaued while house listing prices continue to rise.
TICKING ALONG NICELY
The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index rose 2 points in April to 120.0, a smidgen above the historical average. This continues a theme evident since the start of the year, of sentiment remaining broadly stable at a respectable level. There is little sign that local consumers are ready to clock-off, says ANZ's economists.
BACK ON THE JOB
Job ads lifted +2.9% in March, building on a +1.2% rise in February, suggesting January weakness was transitory. Total job advertising is up +1.7% versus a year ago (3-month average), having come very close last month to going negative for the first time in six years.
MAXED OUT?
Growth in our credit card debt seems to be tailing off. It is up just +2.3% year-on-year to March, well down on the +6.2% growth in June 2015 and the +4.3% growth in March 2015. In fact, this is the lowest growth rate since the end of 2011, nearly five years ago.
DIVORCED
The Brian Gaynor fronted Milford Asset Management and the NZ Super Fund have completely parted ways a year after the Fund suspended Milford's $281 mln mandate. This follows an FMA investigation which led to the regulator taking Mark Warminger to court for allegedly manipulating the market while employed by Milford.
CHAGRINED
The Australian Bankers' Association today announced a review of conflicted payments to staff, including commissions for selling certain financial products. It said these payments would be scrapped or changed where it led to poor outcomes for customers. There is a powerful call in Australia for a Royal Commission into how banks are behaving.
WHOLESALE RATES STEEPEN
Wholesale swap rates fell today at the short end by up to -3 bps (for 1 year), and rose at the long end by up to +3 bps (for 10 years). NZ swap rates are here. The 90-day bank bill rate also fell, by -2 bps, to 2.31%.
NZ DOLLAR SLIPS
The Kiwi dollar fell back slightly today from its recent peak and is now under 70 USc. The NZD is now at 69.1 USc, at 89.3 AUc and 61.7 euro cents. The TWI-5 is at 72.5. Check our real-time charts here.
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2 Comments
Latest Government bond nominal tender of $150 mln 2020s saw strong demand, again, with oversubscription at 4 times. The average weighted accepted yield fell again, now 2.20% from the previous 2.26%. In November 2015 it was 2.9%.
Pension funds reaching for yield, hoping in vain in my view, to stave off inevitable collapse?
Funds in the US are declaring as much right now.
As the Washington Post reports, the Central States Pension Fund, which handles retirement benefits for current and former Teamster union truck drivers across various states including Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, New York, and Minnesota, and is one of the largest pension funds in the nation, has filed an application to cut participant benefits, which would be effective July 1 2016, as it "projects" it will become officially insolvent by 2025. In 2015, the fund returned -0.81%, underperforming the 0.37% return of its benchmark. Read more
It would seem the finance minister is determined to enforce the ideology behind the self evident financial carnage emerging within communities despite claims of rising consumer confidence - or is that just spin to reassure those that think the banking system is already bust?
Cripes, the rates lower for longer brigade are fully employed on Bloomberg, no matter what the outcome.
Aussie bulls say any pause in interest-rate cuts by New Zealand’s central bank could be an opportunity to buy Australia’s currency as the smaller nation will eventually be forced to lower borrowing costs.
The Aussie’s climb against the kiwi stalled in the past month as economists predicted the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will hold its benchmark at 2.25 percent on April 28 after 1.25 percentage points of cuts. Traders are still betting that over six months New Zealand’s interest rate will fall to within 10 basis points of Australia’s, eroding the appeal of what has been a higher yielding currency for the past two years.
While RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler has shown he’s ready and willing to ease, his Reserve Bank of Australia counterpart Glenn Stevens has signaled a reluctance to take rates down further. The two nations’ outlooks have diverged partly as the price of iron ore, Australia’s biggest export earner, surged 44 percent this year, while New Zealand’s milk powder has fallen 2.4 percent. Read more
Are we to expect a Goldman Sachs type meltdown in the Aussie banking sector and NZ is being softened up to make a 'socialise the loss' contribution of some substance?
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