Here's my summary of the key events overnight that affect New Zealand, with news Obamacare is hanging on an even thinner thread.
The US House of Representatives has voted 217-213 to pass a Bill repealing Obamacare. But the Republicans still have to get through the Senate to claim victory on their long-standing battle, which would cause millions to lose health insurance.
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s governor has issued a stark warning about household debt, New Zealanders best take note of. Phillip Lowe is more concerned about what might happen to consumer spending, rather than banks’ balance sheets, if property prices fall and interest rates rise.
He says Australian banks are “resilient and soundly capitalised”, so won’t collapse if there’s a severe property market correction. Rather the impact this may have on households’ spending power is the concern.
He says: “Given the high levels of debt and housing prices, relative to incomes, it is likely that some households respond to a future shock to income or housing prices by deciding that they have borrowed too much… An otherwise manageable downturn could be turned into something more serious.”
Asia-Pacific is continuing to lead in the charge in terms of demand for air travel. Passenger traffic numbers among airlines in the region jumped 9% in March compared to March last year. The global increase was 7% according to the International Air Transport Association. It says the uplift has been pushed along by prices falling by around 10% in real terms over the past year.
Could we have a Trans-Pacific Partnership with just five countries? This is an idea the Japanese media says is being floated by negotiators. If the 11 countries currently debating how to form an agreement without the US can’t come to a consensus, those most keen - Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Brunei - could join forces.
In New York, the UST 10yr yield has inched up to 2.31%.
The US crude benchmark has sunk more than US$2 overnight to a near six-month low of US$45.40 a barrel. The Brent benchmark has dropped to US$48.25.
The gold price has plummeted by around US$20 to US$1,225/oz.
The New Zealand dollar remain relatively weak at 68.7USc, 92.7 AU¢ and 62.5 euro cents. The TWI-5 index has dropped to 73.4.
If you want to catch up with all the 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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