Here's my summary of the key events overnight that affect New Zealand, with news of accelerating money flows out of China.
Firstly however, a US court approved Volkswagen's record-setting $14.7 bln settlement with regulators and owners of 475,000 dirty diesel cars, and the German company said it would begin buying back vehicles in mid-November.
And Americans are taking a slightly dimmer view of their economy as their Presidential election nears, and their labour market expands at a slower rate. The latest consumer confidence survey shows a retreat in confidence that has surprised some analysts.
Meanwhile, the important but slightly lagging survey of US house prices shows price growth accelerated in August, as a lack of inventory and low interest rates helped push prices up to near-record levels. Across the entire nation they rose +5.3% in the 12 months ended in August, a small jump from a +5% increase reported in July.
New Zealand has topped a World Bank survey as the easiest place to do business. It ranked #1 overall, and #1 in six of eleven sub-categories, and was followed by Singapore, Denmark and Hong Kong.
New Zealand has also ranked high in another survey on people's generosity. We came in fourth after Australia (#3), the US (#2) and Myanmar who was in the top spot, again. The Europeans are well down the list. It is just another indicator of the gulf between perceptions built from "the news" and the real situation.
China announced its official unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.05%. It is a statistic that hardly ever changes. They also said they had created 10 mln new jobs in the first nine months of 2016, exactly on target.
And staying in China, they are having to start using desalinated seawater to cover for a severe shortage of fresh water. Obviously this is only an option along the coast, and a very expensive one.
And money is flowing out of China at a concerning rate. These flows are depressing their exchange rate and requiring their central bank to raise its interest rates. China's overnight money rate has climbed to its highest in 18 months. Against the USD, their exchange rate is now at a six year low.
In New York, the UST 10yr yield is unchanged at 1.76%.
The US benchmark oil price pretty much unchanged at just over US$50 a barrel, while the Brent benchmark is still just under US$51 a barrel. However, the International Energy Agency has released a report today saying that the world's capacity to generate electricity from renewable sources has now overtaken coal. The IEA says in a new report that last year, renewables accounted for more than half of the increase in electricity capacity. The report says half a million solar panels were installed every day last year around the world. In China, it says, there were two wind turbines set up every hour.
The gold price is up +US$9, now at US$1,271/oz.
The New Zealand dollar is a little higher too, at 71.6 US¢, and on the cross rates it is 93.7 AU¢, and the euro to 65.8 euro cents. The NZ TWI-5 index is now at 75.9.
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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