A review of things you need to know before you go home on Thursday; car loan rate falls, central banks hold pat, record average housing loan, Murray Goulburn on the ropes, swap rates and NZD rise

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

TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
No home loan changes to report today. But in a related item, AA Finance has reduced its lowest car loan rate (its promotion rate for clients with the best credit criteria) by -1% to 9.95%. (AA car loans are supplied by Heartland Bank.)

TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
No changes here either.

REACTING TO NO CHANGES
This is a report of "what happened today" but the big news is really what didn't happen. The RBNZ did not change the OCR. Although this was as most expected, there were market reactions to the decision. Wholesale rates flattened and the NZD rose. These reactions happened because markets are somewhat confused by the RBNZ's recent policy signals. In contrast, the earlier 'no change' decision by the US Fed was a much better signaled policy response. The Bank of Japan also came up with a 'no change' decision at 3pm today. They brushed aside calls for more mire stimulus. The Yen jumped.

'STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS'
New housing loan approvals last week were strong for this time of year. The average approval value reached another record high of $242,000 and the growth in both volumes and values approved shows no sign of slackening yet.

FONTERRA RIVAL ON THE ROPES
Most NZ dairy farmers will know this, but others may not. Fonterra is not the only regional dairy co-operative facing a hard time. Australia's Murray Goulburn (a fierce Fonterra rival) is facing existential threats. Its business strategy is in tatters, its farmers facing ruin. Fonterra is in a much better place. It was only a few weeks ago that readers of this website were claiming the Aussie dairy farmers were much better off that Kiwi ones. Not now. An "udder disaster" over the ditch.

WHOLESALE RATES FLATTEN
For all rates to five years, wholesale rates rose and flattened following the OCR 'no-change' announcement. But while the flattening trend was strong, it only takes the curve back to the slope we saw in mid-March, although we are now -15 bps lower now. Rates at the long end rose. NZ swap rates are here. The 90-day bank bill rate rose sharply by +7 bps to 2.39%.

NZ DOLLAR RISES
Following the OCR decision today, and after markets absorbed the implications of their Statement, the Kiwi dollar has risen, albeit modestly (although the rise against the Aussie is notable). However, these rises have taken it right to the top of the zone the currency has been in all year. Through the middle of all this, the 3pm Bank of Japan decision say the yen rise strongly. The NZD is now at 69.1 USc, at 91 AUc and 61.1 euro cents. The TWI-5 is at 72.4. Check our real-time charts here.

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