A review of things you need to know before you go home on Thursday; A rate trimmed, QV data goes both ways, fewer job ads, Aussie retail up, NZX50 down, swaps up, NZD listless

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

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
No changes to report here.

TERM DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
NZCU Baywide trimmed its >$20K online saving rate to 2.80%. Actually they made this -20 bps change just before Christmas and we missed it then.

AUCKLAND THE LAGGARD
QV says 2017 was a year of mixed sentiment in the residential property market but value increases picked up noticeably post election despite a drop-off in sales volumes. December prices are up +6.6% year-on-year nationally, up only +0.4% in Auckland however on the same basis. On the Hibiscus Coast, and in parts of Manukau they actually fell.

FEWER JOB ADS
ANZ job ads fell in December, the second consecutive small fall. Annual growth eased to +6.1% from +7.7% in November. Job ads are at high levels but have flattened, with growth rates slipping across most regions and sectors. ANZ says they expect wage growth to pick up modestly this year, reflecting both a tight labour market and changes in government policy.

UNEXPECTED UP-TICK
In Australia, retail sales increased by a better-than-expected +1.2% in November, coinciding with a surge in full-time job creation. "Black Friday" promotions and the release of the iPhone X also get a mention.

THUMPING
In thin trading, the NZX50 is down a whopping -1.4% today.  The largest listings are down even more. Overall there are 16 gainers and 83 declines. Some icon names are down more than -3% on the day. The ASX is also lower but their decline is only -0.5% so far. Markets like Hong Kong and Shanghai are up.

US TOO
The NY Times is highlighting a story about the glass ceiling in the economics profession. Women in top positions are rare. So good on ANZ NZ to making Sharon Zöllner their chief economist recently - they are ahead of the field. (Across the ANZ Group, only four of seventeen economists are women.)

WHOLESALE RATES RISE BUT DON'T STEEPEN
Swap rates rose today across the board by +2 or +3 bps. Last night's run-up in UST yields (to 2.58% for the 10 year) has now all been unwound. The 90 day bank bill rate is unchanged at 1.87%. In China, their sovereign 10yr yield is up to at 3.95% (+2 bp). Their two year is unchanged so their 2-10 curve now up at +32 bps. The NZ Govt 10yr yield is up another +2 bps today at 2.87%.

NZ DOLLAR SOFTER
The NZ dollar has slipped today and is now at 71.9 USc. On the cross rates we are at 91.3 AUc and 60.1 euro cents. This puts the TWI-5 down a tick at 74.1. It had been higher but in the past hour or so has given some of those earlier gains back. In contrast, the bitcoin price is now at US$14,441, a +US$250 gain on the day. But since this time yesterday, it got down as low as US$13,474 at one point. Also, see this.

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