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A review of things you need to know before you go home on Friday; Westpac cuts savings rates, factories & consumers happy, job ads up, Auckland shortage to stay, swaps rise, NZD holds

A review of things you need to know before you go home on Friday; Westpac cuts savings rates, factories & consumers happy, job ads up, Auckland shortage to stay, swaps rise, NZD holds

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

TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
No changes today.

TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
Westpac cut call rates today from 0.70% to 0.55%. They also cut their one month TD by the same amount.

ON THE UP
Manufacturers in New Zealand are feeling even better about their prospects with the June PMI readings rising to a very healthy 56.5. The strongest part of this survey is that for new orders, the weakest part is for jobs. Factories are selling more with less labour inputs, perhaps a harbinger for the future. Other parts of the economy are providing the jobs (see below).

'HAPPY CAMPERS'
The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence survey out for June shows we are still a positive lot. June levels are in line with historical averages and holding firm. It is also consistent with business confidence providing what ANZ says is "a reasonable hum of positivity across the economy". House price expectations rose once again, hitting a new high.

'KEEPING UP THE GOOD WORK'
Confirming the confidence levels was data out on job ads. ANZ said it is a case of “up north down south” in the main centre regions, with Auckland job ads +11.8% higher than a year ago, Wellington job ads up +4.2%, but Canterbury job ads -11.3% lower than a year ago. In the smaller regions, Otago has seized pole position with a surge to annual growth of +15.7%. All regions except Manawatu saw a monthly increase in job ads in May.

MORTGAGE FRAUD VERDICT
A mortgage fraud scheme cooked up between a family group of seven in 2007 to 2010 involving 11 properties and more than $9 mln in loans has finally worked its way through the courts with a guilty conviction. Sentencing is due in August.

NOT GOING AWAY
Bank economists have ventured that the hot housing situation in Auckland won't end anytime soon. Westpac forecast a pullback "later in the decade" (p1) and BNZ's Tony Alexander said yesterday that he would be comfortable buying in Auckland for the next two years or so because the "shortgage is getting worse" (p3).

SWAP RATES RISE, STEEPEN
Local swap rates stepped back from the edge today, rising +3 to +5 bps across the curve in a steepening trend. NZ swap rates are here. The 90-day bank bill rate is unchanged today at 2.34%.

NZ DOLLAR HOLDS
There has been little change to our currency today. It is holding its recent gains. Is now at 70.5 USc, at 95.4 AUc, and 62.6 euro cents. The TWI-5 is now at 74.2. Check our real-time charts here.

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End of day UTC
Source: CoinDesk

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4 Comments

Anyone seen the story about Australian live cattle being killed with sledgehammers in Vietnam ? It transpires the live Aussie cow exports to Vietnam are the biggest live cow market for the Aussies , and there is outrage across the ditch .

What did the Australians expect ? That the cows would not be subjected to undue stress in the slaughter process and be stunned with electricity and then slaughtered humanely ?

Anyone who has spent time in the poorer parts of Asia or Africa knows better about how slaughter animals are treated .

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Vietnamese dairy companies run farms in Dalat with herds "recruited" from NZ.

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I have read the Westpac report on the housing market. I have a feeling they will probably be right that prices will remain elevated due to the shortage. Not great news I know.

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Weather the news is great or not depends on which side of the fence you are, owning houses or wanting to buy

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